Six people killed in shooting near Shiite mosque

Six people, including four Pakistanis, were killed and around 30 injured in a shooting near a Shiite mosque in Muscat, authorities announced on Tuesday, July 16. A rare occurrence in the Sultanate of Oman, known for its stability and neutrality. The police specified in a statement on X that “the three attackers were killed”, without mentioning their nationality. An investigation has been opened.

On Tuesday evening, the Islamic State group (IS) finally claimed responsibility for the shooting. Three “Islamic State fighters in Oman’s capital Muscat“are behind the attack,” said the Aamaq agency, a propaganda tool of the IS. It added that the targets were “Shiites performing their annual rituals.”

The shooting began at 11pm local time (7pm GMT) on Monday and continued into the early hours of Tuesday, Pakistan’s ambassador to Muscat, Imran Ali, told AFP. A security perimeter was set up near the mosque named after Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, the first Shiite imam, in eastern Muscat.

Footage verified by AFP shows people fleeing in front of a mosque, whose minaret is visible, as gunshots ring out. One person can be heard screaming “Oh God” and repeat “Oh Hussein”, in reference to the imam whom Shiites consider the legitimate successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Imran Ali said the attackers had taken the faithful in “hostages”, later released during an operation by Omani security forces.

The attacked Shiite mosque is mostly frequented by migrants from Southeast Asia, including Pakistanis, who number 400,000 in Oman.