Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Oman, the group said on Tuesday, which left at least nine people dead, including three attackers, a rare security breach in the oil-producing Gulf state.
The Mohammed Al Ameen Mosque, Muscat © Mena Today
Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Oman, the group said on Tuesday, which left at least nine people dead, including three attackers, a rare security breach in the oil-producing Gulf state.
The attack on Monday, which is unusual in the wealthy, Sunni Muslim-dominated Gulf states, raises fears that the Islamic State group may be trying to gain a foothold in new territory.
"Three suicide attackers from the Islamic State attacked last night a gathering of Shi'ite (Muslims) while they were practicing their annual rituals at a temple in the Wadi al-Kabir district in the (Omani) capital," according to group's statement, which cited three security sources.
The Islamic State fighters fired on Shi'ite worshippers and exchanged gunfire with Omani security forces until morning, the statement added.
Islamic State late on Tuesday published what it said was a video of the attack on its Telegram site.
The group also said that the attack left more than 30 Shi'ite Muslims and five Omani forces, including a police officer, killed or wounded.
(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Muhammad Al Gebaly; Writing by Andrew Mills; Editing by Chris Reese and Lisa Shumaker)
Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Muhammad Al Gebaly
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that a deal reached with Syria on the future of Moscow's military bases in the country would boost ties between the nations, and a Syrian source said some Russian forces would still be stationed there under the agreement.
Lebanon's parliament on Tuesday abolished the death penalty and replaced all existing death sentences with life imprisonment, the speaker's office said in a statement.
U.S. President Donald Trump accused Iran of being "devious negotiators" in an interview released late on Monday and described some of his current options in the war — "just bop along" and let Tehran fail economically or hit them "really, really hard."
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.