{"id":3981,"date":"2024-07-16T18:59:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T18:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/six-killed-including-pakistanis-in-shooting-near-mosque\/"},"modified":"2024-07-16T18:59:01","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T18:59:01","slug":"six-killed-including-pakistanis-in-shooting-near-mosque","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/six-killed-including-pakistanis-in-shooting-near-mosque\/","title":{"rendered":"Six killed, including Pakistanis, in shooting near mosque"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Six people, including a policeman, have been killed and 28 others injured in a rare shooting attack near a Shia mosque in Oman’s capital, Muscat, police say.<\/p>\n

The three attackers were also killed by security forces during the incident in the al-Wadi al-Kabir area on Monday night, according to a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It did not provide details about the identities of the victims and gunmen, or the motive. But Pakistan said four Pakistanis were among those killed in a “terrorist attack” on the Imam Ali Mosque. India also said one of its citizen was killed.<\/p>\n

Video showed a crowd running for cover inside the mosque’s courtyard as gunshots were heard<\/a>. Worshippers had gathered there on the eve of the Shia holy day of Ashura.<\/p>\n

The police statement expressed condolences to the victims’ families and said an investigation into the circumstances of the incident was under way.<\/p>\n

It also emphasised “the necessity of obtaining information from official sources and disregarding unreliable information”.<\/p>\n

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was “deeply saddened” by the attack and that his “heart goes out to the families of the victims”.<\/p>\n

“I have instructed the Pakistan embassy in Muscat to extend all possible assistance to the injured and visit the hospitals personally,” he wrote on X.<\/a><\/p>\n

“Pakistan stands in solidarity with the Sultanate of Oman and offers full assistance in the investigation.”<\/p>\n

Pakistan’s embassy in Muscat named the four Pakistanis who were killed as Ghulam Abbas, Hasan Abbas, Sayyed Qaisar Abbas and Sulaiman Nawaz<\/a>. It also said 30 Pakistanis were receiving hospital treatment.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday morning, Pakistani ambassador Imran Ali said in a video that he had visited some of those injured at three local hospitals and described their conditions as “relatively safe”. <\/p>\n

He also advised Pakistani residents of Oman to avoid al-Wadi al-Kabir and to co-operate with local authorities.<\/p>\n

Mr Ali later told AFP news agency that the attackers initially opened fire from a building next to the mosque, where hundreds of people had gathered for a prayer service.<\/p>\n

The worshippers were held “hostage” by militants before “they were later freed by Omani forces”, he said.<\/p>\n

He also said there was little information about the possible motive for the attack, adding: “Everyone is being tight-lipped about this.”<\/p>\n

India’s embassy said it had been informed by the Omani foreign ministry that one Indian national was killed and other was injured, without identifying them.<\/p>\n

The shooting happened on the night of the ninth day of the Islamic month of Muharram, when Shia Muslims attend rituals on the eve of Ashura. Ashura is a major commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in a battle in the seventh century.<\/p>\n

Some of the worshippers in the courtyard can be heard shouting \u201cO God\u201d, \u201cO Hussein\u201d and \u201cI am here, O Hussein\u201d in the video filmed inside the Imam Ali Mosque as the attack unfolded.<\/p>\n

There was no immediate claim from any group, but supporters of the Sunni jihadist group Islamic State (IS) celebrated the shooting on social media networks. <\/p>\n

IS has repeatedly targeted Shia ceremonies, processions and worshippers in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it has never before claimed an attack in Oman.<\/p>\n

The Gulf state that has long been seen as one of the most stable and secure countries in the Middle East. This has allowed it to play a leading role in mediation efforts to try to resolve conflicts and disputes in the region.<\/p>\n

The sultanate has a population of about 4.6 million, of which more than 40% are foreign workers.<\/p>\n

The government does not publish statistics about religious affiliation.<\/p>\n

However, the US state department estimates that 95% of the population is Muslim, with 45% Sunni, 45% Ibadi and 5% Shia. Hindus, Buddhists and Christians make up the remaining 5%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Six people, including a policeman, have been killed and 28 others injured in a rare shooting attack near a Shia mosque in Oman’s capital, Muscat, police say. The three attackers were also killed by security forces during the incident in the al-Wadi al-Kabir area on Monday night, according to a statement. It did not provide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3983,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3981\/revisions\/3983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}