Key Points
- IS has claimed responsibility for what they called a suicide attack on a Shi’ite mosque in Oman.
- Gunmen killed at least six people, four Pakistanis, an Indian national, and an Omani police officer.
- It is a rare security breach for Oman, which is known for its stability in the region.
The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for an attack at a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Oman, where at least six people, including a policeman, were killed and 28 wounded.
“Three suicide attackers from the Islamic State attacked last night a gathering of Shi’ite (Muslims) while they were practising their annual rituals at a temple in the Wadi al-Kabir district in the (Omani) capital,” said an IS statement, which cited three security sources.
Nine people are dead in total, including three attackers, law enforcement said, in a rare security breach in the oil-producing Gulf state, which is one of the most stable countries in the Middle East.
Four Pakistanis, an Indian national and a police officer were killed in the gun attack, according to Pakistani, Indian and Omani officials. The Oman police said 28 people of various nationalities were wounded, including security personnel.
Any infiltration into Sunni-dominated Oman, which sits on one side of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas shipping route, would raise fears of IS trying to gain a foothold in the oil-rich Gulf.
The attack came as Shi’ite Muslims observed Ashura, an annual period of mourning to commemorate the seventh-century death of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.
The observation of Ashura has sometimes triggered sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims in some Middle Eastern countries, though not typically in Oman where the Ibadi sect promotes tolerance.
Most Omanis adhere to the Ibadi faith, a branch of Islam that has much in common with mainstream Sunni Islam.
Pakistan has offered support
Pakistan has offered Oman its full assistance in its investigation into the attack, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on social media platform X.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the attack took place at the Ali bin Abi Talib mosque. A local source said it was also known as Imam Ali mosque, a Shi’ite place of worship in Ibadi-ruled Oman, which has a small but influential Shi’ite minority.
Describing the incident in the Wadi al-Kabir district of Oman’s capital Muscat as a “terrorist” attack, the Pakistani ministry said 30 survivors were being treated in hospitals.
“This is a very unprecedented event … the likes of it we have not seen in Oman’s history,” said Pakistan’s ambassador to Muscat, Imran Ali, expressing gratitude to law enforcement and hospital staff.
The ambassador earlier visited some victims in hospital.
He said most of the 30 victims there were being treated for gunshot wounds while others had suffered injuries fleeing the attack, including being crushed in the stampede.
