6 killed, 28 injured in Oman shooting near Shiite mosque; one Indian among deceased

At least six people were killed and 28 others injured in a shooting near a Shiite mosque in Sunni-dominated Oman.

The attack happened on the 15th of July night in the capital Muscat City when the worshippers gathered there on the eve of the Shia holy day of Ashura.

Among those killed include an Indian, and four Pakistanis. The three gunmen who carried out the attack have also been neutralised. So far, no one has taken responsibility for the mass shooting.

Condemning the incident, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called it a "terrorist attack".

Videos circulating online showed shows people fleeing near the Imam Ali Mosque, as gunfire rang out.

The Indian embassy in Oman on Tuesday in a social media message said that an Indian national died in the mass shooting that erupted near a Shia mosque in Oman's capital Muscat which killed six people.

Police said "all necessary security measures and procedures have been taken to handle the situation" following the attack.

"The authorities are continuing to gather evidence and conduct investigations to uncover the circumstances surrounding the incident," police added on X.

The area remained cordoned off on Tuesday, with journalists unable to access the mosque, an AFP photographer reported.

Oman has a population of more than four million, of whom upwards of 40 percent are expat workers, mostly from south Asia, according to government figures.

Shiites make up a small minority of Oman's overwhelmingly Muslim population. Most Omanis follow the Sunni or Ibadi branches of the faith.

Several attacks on Shiite mosques have roiled the Gulf in recent years, but this was the first in Oman.