ISLAMABAD (AP) — The bodies of four Pakistanis killed in an attack attack on a Shiite mosque This week, people in Oman have been repatriated and handed over to their families, officials said on Friday.
Relatives of the victims were present when the Pakistan International Airlines flights landed at Islamabad and Lahore airports. Airline spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said the bodies were repatriated on government orders and handed over to the victims’ relatives for burial.
On Monday, gunmen stormed a mosque in Oman’s capital Muscat that was packed with worshippers holding special prayers on the eve of the Shiite holiday of mourning AshuraThe festival commemorates the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, in the 7th century in Karbala in present-day Iraq.
The Islamic State group claimed Monday’s attack, the first by the Sunni Muslim extremist group to claim responsibility for an attack in Oman. Omani police have said the three attackers who were killed in an ensuing gun battle were Omani citizens, all brothers.
Many of the people in the mosque were Pakistanis, who make up a large part of the nearly 2 million migrants who power Oman’s economy by working in construction and other sectors. Pakistan’s ambassador to Oman, Imran Ali, said Pakistan was not the target and that some Pakistanis died trying to rescue other worshippers.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, saying: “Such acts of terror and violence against peaceful citizens cannot be condoned on any grounds.”
The attack highlighted the continuing threat posed by terrorist organisations and was a reminder of the importance of working together to combat them, ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told a news conference in Islamabad on Friday. She said Pakistan offered its assistance to Oman in the investigation.
