TRANSCRIPT
Militants from the so-called Islamic State group have claimed responsibility for an attack at a Shia Muslim mosque in Oman, where at least six people, including a policeman, were killed and 28 wounded.
The attack, which is unusual in the wealthy, Sunni Muslim-dominated Gulf state, raises fears that IS, which has operated in the shadows since it was largely crushed by a US-led coalition in 2017, may be attempting a comeback in new territory.
I-S says in a statement that three of its "suicide attackers" began firing on worshippers in the evening at the Ali bin Abi Talib mosque in Oman's capital Muscat and exchanged gunfire with Omani security forces until morning.
Four Pakistanis, an Indian national and a police officer were killed in the gun attack, according to Pakistani, Indian and Omani officials.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a post on X and says his country will offer its full assistance in the investigation into the attack.
The attack came as Shia Muslims observed Ashura, an annual period of mourning to commemorate the 7th century death of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.
The observation of Ashura has sometimes triggered sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims in some Middle East countries, though not typically in Oman where the Ibadi sect of Islam promotes tolerance.
And, elsewhere in the Middle East, yet another United Nations school has been bombed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, killing at least 25 people and wounding over 100.
A witness describes the horrifying moment.
“We were sitting there, we were fasting and resting and suddenly a rocket fell on us here. All our loved ones died, our sons, our daughters, all children, some elders. What can I say or do? God suffices me and He is the disposer of affairs.”
It was the sixth UN-run school that has been hit by an Israeli air strike in the past 10 days.
Israel has claimed all of these attacks were targeting Palestinian militants or militant infrastructure.
The United States has reaffirmed this narrative, with state department spokesperson Matthew Miller arguing that the deadly attacks - which come in the midst of ongoing ceasefire negotiations - do not present a further obstacle to a peace.
“In all of these strikes, Israel has said publicly that they were striking militants. And of course, we've seen reported deaths of militants, including Hamas leaders, in some of these strikes. But we've also seen credible reports of civilian deaths. And so, I don't think the strikes that they are taking have anything to do with a ceasefire deal. I think that they are committed to trying to reach a ceasefire and they continue to remain engaged in the talks to try to reach a ceasefire.”
After nine months of war, more than 38,700 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's assault on Gaza which followed the Hamas-led attack on Israel which took the lives of close to 1,200 people.
The United Nations' Palestinian agency says 70 per cent of their schools in Gaza have now been struck by Israeli air strikes since October 7 with 539 sheltering people killed in the attacks.
And spokesman for the U-N Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric says a separate Israeli air strike has also now hit near a centre used by the U-N and aid agencies.
“The operations are continuing but one can only imagine how much it impacts our humanitarian colleagues who are actually working in that place. They're already under tremendous stress, they're already continuing to work in an active war zone. And if there's a strike 100 metres away from where you work it just adds to an already overwhelming level of stress. Not to mention the impact it has on the civilians who are routinely killed.”
Meanwhile, in Israel, protesters are clashing with police over the imminent conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into the war effort in Gaza.
It follows a landmark Supreme Court order that defies a long-standing political arrangement which made young religious men exempt from the draft.
The military says it will begin sending draft notices next week - a step that could destabilize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and trigger more large protests to come.
Dozens of ultra-Orthodox men blocked a main highway in central Israel following the announcement, raising banners reading “Israel is an antisemitic country” and “we will go to jail but not to the army.”
“The government, the high court, have decided all Haredi, ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys have to go to the army, recruit to the army. The army is not an army for fighting, it’s an army with an indoctrination camp of Zionism, of atheism, against religion. Therefore, our children, our boys, and I have a son over here, will not go to the army - not for one minute.”
