Six people including four Pakistanis were killed and nearly 30 wounded in a shooting near a Shiite mosque in the Omani capital Muscat, officials said Tuesday, July 16, a rare attack in the country that was claimed by the Islamic State group.
Monday's mosque attack came as Shiites this week mark Ashura, an annual day of mourning that commemorates the seventh-century death in battle of Imam Hussein, regarded by the branch as the rightful successor to the Prophet Mohammed.
"The Royal Oman Police have responded to a shooting incident that occurred in the vicinity of a mosque in the Al-Wadi Al-Kabir area" of the capital, a police statement said.
The three gunmen behind the attack were killed and police officers have "concluded the procedures for dealing with the shooting," it added.
The force gave a toll of six killed, including a police officer. It said 28 people "from various nationalities" were wounded, including rescuers and paramedics.
The Islamic State jihadist group claimed the attack, saying three of its fighters were behind the shootings that targeted "Shiites practicing their annual rituals" on the occasion of the holy mourning period of Ashura. The group's propaganda channel Aamaq said on its Telegram channels that IS fighters "opened fire with machine guns on Shiite" worshippers, before clashing with Omani security forces.
The foreign ministry in Islamabad said at least "four Pakistanis were martyred as a result of gunshots in the dastardly terrorist attack on the Ali bin Abi Talib mosque." Another 30 Pakistanis were wounded, it added. One Indian was killed and another was wounded, India's embassy in Oman said on social media platform X.
Footage verified by AFP shows people fleeing the Imam Ali Mosque, its minaret visible, as gunshots ring out. A voice can be heard saying "oh God" and repeating "oh Hussein".
Speaking to AFP, Pakistan's ambassador to Oman Imran Ali said the Shiite mosque was mostly frequented by south Asian expatriates. Oman is home to at least 400,000 Pakistanis, he said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was "deeply saddened by the terrorist attack". In a statement on X, he said: "Pakistan stands in solidarity with the Sultanate of Oman and offers full assistance in the investigation."
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanani, condemned the shooting as a "divisive" act.
Oman has a population of more than four million, of whom upwards of 40% are expat workers, mostly from south Asia, according to government figures. Shiites make up a small minority of Oman's overwhelmingly Muslim population. Most Omanis follow the Sunni or Ibadi branches of the faith. Several attacks on Shiite mosques have roiled the Gulf in recent years, but this was the first in Oman.