Bodies of 4 Pakistanis killed in Oman terror attack repatriated

• Four people were killed in attack at mosque in Muscat.
• Bodies transported to Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore.
• All three attackers were Omani nationals, say police.

KARACHI: The bodies of four Pakistanis who were killed in a rare attack at a mosque in Muscat, Oman, were repatriated to the country, a spokesperson for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said Friday.

The assault — for which the terrorist organisation Daesh took responsibility and Pakistan labelled as a "dastardly" terror attack — occurred on Monday evening at the Ali bin Abi Talib mosque in the Wadi al-Kabir neighbourhood of Muscat.

The Royal Oman Police said the three gunmen — all Omani nationals — 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. Twenty-eight others were injured.

In the statement, the PIA said the body of deceased Syed Qaiser had been brought to Karachi and would later be transported to Lahore. Meanwhile, the bodies of Ghulam Abbas and Hasan Abbas have been transported to Islamabad, while Suleman Nawaz's to Lahore.

It was the first known operation claimed by the Daesh group in the sultanate, which is among the most stable countries in the Middle East.

Monday's attack came ahead of Ashura, an annual day of mourning that commemorates the seventh-century martyrdom of Imam Hussain, his family, and companions in the battle of Karbala.