Photo : Collected
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, a rare attack in the otherwise stable Gulf sultanate.
Monday's mosque attack, which has yet to be claimed, 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 sect 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 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.
Messenger/Disha
