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Perpetrators swore allegiance to IS

The identities of the “three terrorist brothers” who attacked a mosque in Muscat on Monday evening have shocked Oman, a country not used to such incidents.

An ISIS video showed the brothers pledging allegiance to the terrorist group’s leader before the attack.

The Royal Oman Police said the brothers, who were from Oman, died after resisting security forces and investigations showed they were influenced by extremist ideas.

According to the information available, the three brothers held prestigious positions.

One of them had a doctorate and worked in an important government ministry and had hosted television programs on Oman’s development, which are available on YouTube.

The second brother worked at the central bank and the third was employed by the municipality.

In one video, their fourth brother, Sultan Al-Hasani, a former singer who has given up his career, can be seen condemning his brothers and calling their actions bloodshed and a threat to national security.

On Tuesday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on the Imam Ali Mosque in Wadi Kabir, Muscat.

The attack targeted local residents celebrating Ashura. Six people were killed, including a policeman, and about 28 others were injured. The three attackers were also killed.

In a video published by the IS news agency Amaq and not confirmed by official sources, the three brothers who carried out the attack can be seen standing in front of the group’s black flag and pledging allegiance to “Abu Hafs,” the group’s leader, Abu Hafs al-Hashimi.

Abu Hafs became the fifth leader of ISIS on August 3, 2023, after his predecessor Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi was killed in battle, as announced in an audio recording by ISIS spokesman Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansari.

In a video released by ISIS, a spokesman believed to be Hamad Al-Hasani justified the attack on the mosque with sectarian rhetoric, incited Arab youth to revolt and criticized religious scholars.

He also attacked the US-led West, accusing it of waging “the greatest ideological, military, media and economic war against Muslims in general and ISIS in particular.”