With mosque attack in Oman, Islamic State group aims to show it can still strike: Expert on jihadi groups
The Hindu
Oman shaken by Islamic State attack, highlighting group's global reach and recruitment efforts beyond Iraq and Syria.
At the corner of the Arabian Peninsula, Oman has long been seen as one of the safest, secluded countries in the Middle East, spared of militant violence that has struck elsewhere.
Six people were killed while they were offering their prayers at a Shiite Mosque in the capital this week, which changed that image and highlighted the radical Islamic State (IS) group’s strategy of striking far and wide, years after its defeat in Iraq and Syria.
Omani police said on Thursday that the three gunmen in the attack — who were killed in a subsequent gunfight — were Omani citizens, all brothers. It was a sign the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the mosque storming, is working to recruit in the sultanate, whose nationals have rarely joined international jihadi groups.
Monday night’s attack was the latest instance of IS inflicting surprise mayhem in a country where it doesn’t have a significant presence. In January, IS claimed responsibility for suicide bombings that killed 84 people in Shiite-majority Iran. In Russia in March, gunmen attacked a Moscow concert hall, leaving more than 130 dead.
Peace and stability are a top priority of Oman’s government, and the country’s tightly controlled state media hardly mentioned Monday night’s attack (July 15) and has given no details on the investigation.
Gunmen stormed the Imam Ali in the capital Muscat, packed with worshippers holding special prayers on the eve of the Shiite mourning festival of Ashoura. Many of them were Pakistanis, who make up a majority of the nearly two million migrants who contribute to Oman’s economy by working in construction and other fields.
One unidentified Pakistani worshipper at the mosque told the Times of Oman, an English-language daily, that the attack and subsequent shoot-out with Omani police lasted an hour and a half.