DUBAI: The three gunmen who shot and killed six people at a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Oman in an attack claimed by Daesh this week were all Omani nationals, police said on Thursday.
The assault began on Monday evening at the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi Al-Kabir neighborhood of Oman’s capital Muscat as Shi’ite Muslims gathered.
The Royal Oman Police said the three gunmen were brothers and “were killed due to their insistence on resisting security personnel.” It said that police investigations had indicated the three gunmen were “influenced by misguided ideas.”
The six people killed by the gunmen were four Pakistani nationals, an Indian, and a police officer responding to the attack, which Daesh later claimed responsibility for.
Pakistan has labelled the assault a terror attack.
Daesh on Tuesday said that three of its “suicide attackers” fired on worshippers at the mosque on Monday evening and exchanged gunfire with Omani security forces until morning.
The Sunni militant group also published what it said was a video of the attack on its Telegram site. It has claimed responsibility this year for high-profile attacks in Russia and Iran which inflicted mass casualties and is active in Afghanistan. It had not claimed an assault on the Arabian Peninsula for several years until the attack in Oman.
DAESH SEEKS COMEBACK
Its operations have indicated the group is attempting a comeback after it was crushed by a US-led coalition following its occupation of large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate.
It also inspired lone-wolf attacks in the West.
Any inroads in Gulf Arab oil producers such as Oman would raise fears in Washington and the region which has long viewed militant Islamist groups as a major threat.
Dozens of people at the mosque in Oman were wounded with around 30 people treated at local hospitals, including for gunshot wounds.
Monday evening marked the beginning of Ashura, an annual period of mourning, which many Shi’ite Muslims mark publicly, to commemorate the 7th century death of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The observation of Ashura has sometimes triggered sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims in some Middle East countries.
The attack was largely unprecedented in Oman, where most of its citizens follow the Ibadi Muslim faith that shares many similarities with mainstream Sunni Islam. Oman has a small but influential Omani Shi’ite population. Like other Gulf countries, there is a large and significant foreign workforce in Oman too.
Omani nationals behind Muscat mosque attack that killed four Pakistanis, police say
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Omani nationals behind Muscat mosque attack that killed four Pakistanis, police say
- Police say the three gunmen, who targeted the mosque, were killed after they offered resistance to security personnel
- Attack claimed by Daesh is viewed as an attempt by the militant group to make a comeback after being crushed by the US
Pakistan police book man for wounding buffalo with ax in Bahawalpur district
- Complainant accuses a landowner in Ahmadpur East of attacking buffalo for straying into his fodder field
- Pakistan police register case against suspect under Pakistan Penal Code for injuring cattle
ISLAMABAD: Police in Pakistan’s eastern Bahawalpur district registered a case on Sunday against a landowner for wounding a buffalo with ax for straying into his fodder field, in another case of animal brutality in the country.
As per a copy of the police complaint seen by Arab News, the complainant Bashir Ahmad, a laborer and resident of the Ismail Pur area of the Ahmadpur East city, said the incident took place on Jan. 24.
Ahmad said he arrived at his home after work on Saturday to find that his buffalo had escaped. Ahmad searched for the animal along with two others he cited as eyewitnesses in his report. They discovered that the buffalo had strayed into a fodder field nearby owned by a man named Manzoor Hussain.
“During this time, Manzoor Hussain came with an ax and as we watched, attacked both of the front legs of the buffalo,” the police report quoted Ahmad as saying.
The complainant said the buffalo collapsed as a result of the assault. It did not mention whether the buffalo had died or not.
Ahmad said the suspect abused him and the other eyewitnesses and left the area after they arrived.
“Manzoor Hussain has committed a grave injustice by injuring my buffalo,” the report quoted Ahmad as saying. “I want action to be taken against him.”
Police registered a case against Hussain under Sections 427 [mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees] and 429 [mischief by killing or maiming cattle of any value or any animal of the value of fifty rupees] of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Local media reported the suspect had been arrested following the police complaint.
Animal abuse cases in Pakistan have frequently made headlines over the years. In June 2024, a local landlord in the southern Sanghar district was accused of chopping off a camel’s leg after it strayed into his fields for grazing.
The story, which triggered an uproar on mainstream and social media, led to the camel being transported to an animal shelter in Karachi for treatment. Six suspects were arrested by the police.
In another incident in the southern Umerkot district during June 2024, a camel was found dead with its legs amputated.
In July 2024, a man was arrested in Pakistan’s eastern Shahpur city for chopping off a buffalo’s tongue.
Pakistan’s existing animal cruelty laws, rooted in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1890, prohibit various forms of animal cruelty, including beating, overdriving, and mutilation.
The legislation also prescribes penalties for breaches of these anti-cruelty provisions, which can include fines and imprisonment, though these are not always effectively enforced.
