5 Killed In Oman Shiite Mosque Attack

Five persons have been killed and many others, including a police officer, wounded at a Shiite mosque in Oman, Pakistan authorities said on Tuesday.

The Pakistani Government said four of its nationals were killed and 30 others injured in the shooting.

The Royal Oman Police stated that they are yet to identify a motive behind the attack or a suspect for the shooting which took place in the Wadi Kabir neighborhood of Muscat, Monday night.

According to the state-run Oman News Agency, three attackers were killed and 28 individuals of various nationalities were reported to be wounded.

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 neutralised the attackers” and that Pakistan has offered assistance in “bringing to justice those responsible for this heinous crime in this holy month of Muharram.”