DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (news agencies) — A rare shooting by multiple attackers at a Shiite mosque in Oman killed five people and wounded many more including a police officer, authorities said Tuesday. Pakistan’s government said four of its nationals were dead and 30 hurt.
The Royal Oman Police said in a statement mentioned no motive or suspect and said the shooting occurred Monday night in the Wadi Kabir neighborhood of the capital, Muscat. The state-run Oman News Agency said three attackers were killed. It reported 28 wounded of “different nationalities.”
The shooting occurred on the eve of Ashoura, a remembrance of the 7th century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, that gave birth to their faith. The day falls in the Islamic month of Muharram, one of the holiest months for Shiite Muslims.
Such violence is unusual in the sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. The U.S. Embassy warned its citizens to “stay away from the area.”
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement it “strongly condemns the dastardly terrorist attack on Imam Bargah Ali bin Abu Talib” mosque.
A separate statement by Pakistan’s information office said the government was “heartened that the government of Oman has neutralized the attackers” and that Pakistan has offered assistance in “bringing to justice those responsible for this heinous crime in this holy month of Muharram.”
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the attack. Iran is a Shiite theocracy.
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