Muscat
Six people, including four Pakistanis, were killed and nearly 30 others injured in a shooting near a Shiite mosque in Oman’s capital, Muscat, authorities said on July 17. In a rare attack in the country, the ISIL terrorist group claimed responsibility.
The attack on the mosque came as Shiites mark this week the annual Ashura festival of mourning for Imam Hussein, who was killed in a seventh-century battle and is regarded by the sect as the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad.
Four Pakistanis, one Indian and one Omani police officer were killed in the shooting, police said.
It was the first attack claimed by the ISIL terrorist group in one of the most stable countries in the Middle East.
The terrorist group said in a statement on July 17 that the attack targeted “Shiites performing their annual rituals.”
The jihadist group controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria before being declared defeated after multiple military operations in 2019.
Despite losing its self-declared “caliphate,” the group continues to carry out attacks on civilians and security personnel in both countries.
A police statement said the three gunmen who carried out the attack were killed and that officers had “completed procedures for dealing with a shooting incident.”
In a written statement, Turkey’s foreign ministry said it was “deeply saddened by this attack and sends its condolences to the families of the victims and to the fellow Omani people.”
