ISLAMABAD (AP) — The bodies of four Pakistanis killed in an attack on a Shiite mosque in Oman this week have been repatriated and handed to their families, officials said Friday.
Relatives of the victims were present when the Pakistan International Airlines flights landed at the Islamabad and Lahore airports. Airline spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez said the bodies were repatriated at orders from the government and handed to the victims' relatives for burial.
Later, hundreds of mourners attended the funerals of the victims in their home cities.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Shari condemned the attack in a meeting with Oman’s ambassador in Islamabad.
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 mourning festival of Ashoura. The festival marks the 7th-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, at Karbala in modern-day Iraq.
The Islamic State group claimed Monday’s attack, which was the first instance of the Sunni Muslim extremist group asserting responsibility for such an action in Oman. Omani police have said the three assailants were killed in a subsequent gunfight and were Omani citizens, all brothers.
Many of those inside the mosque were Pakistanis, who make up a large number of the nearly 2 million migrants who help power Oman’s economy working in construction and other fields. Pakistan’s ambassador in Oman, Imran Ali, said his country was not the target and some of the Pakistanis died while trying to save other worshippers.
Sharif, during a meeting with Oman's ambassador Fahad Sulaiman, appreciated the envoy's role in the repatriation of the bodies of four Pakistanis killed in Muscat, a statement from his office said Friday, adding that Sharif “offered Pakistan’s support to Oman in dealing with the menace of terrorism, which must be eliminated in all its forms.”
Also Friday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, saying, “Such acts of terrorism and violence against peaceful civilians cannot be condoned on any grounds whatsoever.”
The attack demonstrated the persistent threat posed by terrorist organizations and was a reminder of the importance of working together to fight them, ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at a news conference in Islamabad Friday. She said Pakistan offered its assistance to Oman in the investigation.
FILE - A general view of the city, in Muscat, Oman, on Sept. 15, 2010. This week's attack on a Shiite mosque in the capital stunned Oman, a quiet nation long spared militant violence. It underscores how the Islamic State group has turned to a strategy of surprise, dramatic strikes outside its usual battlegrounds — a way to show its resilience and inspire new recruits. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)
JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Israeli forces appeared Friday to have withdrawn from the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, after a more-than weeklong military operation that has left dozens dead and a trail of destruction.
Overnight, Israeli armored personnel carriers were seen leaving the camp from a checkpoint set up on one of the main roads, and an Associated Press reporter inside the camp saw no evidence of any remaining troops inside as dawn broke early Friday morning.
Israel's military had no immediate comment but said it would issue a statement later in the day. It was not clear whether the apparent withdrawal was only a temporary measure to regroup forces.
Hundreds of Israeli troops have been involved for more than a week in what has been their deadliest operation in the occupied West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war began, employing what the United Nations called “lethal war-like tactics.”
Their focus has been the Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of Palestinian militancy that has grown since the Hamas attack on Israel that started the war in Gaza nearly 11 months ago.
Fighting in Jenin accounts for 21 of 39 Palestinians who local health officials say have been killed during the Israeli push in the West Bank — most of whom, the military says, have been militants.
The fighting has had a devastating effect on Palestinian civilians living in Jenin.
Water and electric services have been cut, families have been confined to their homes and ambulances evacuating the wounded have been slowed on their way to nearby hospitals, as Israeli soldiers search for militants.
In the quiet morning Friday, Jenin residents took advantage of the lull to rummage through the rubble of destroyed buildings and take stock of the damage.
Twisted rebar protruded from the concrete of collapsed buildings, and walls still standing were pockmarked by bullets and shrapnel.
During the operation, Israeli military officials said they were targeting militants in Jenin, Tulkarem and the Al-Faraa refugee camp curb recent attacks against Israeli civilians they say have become more sophisticated and deadly.
It was not immediately clear whether they were also removing troops from the other two camps as well.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas and other militants staged a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people, primarily civilians. Hamas is believed to still be holding more than 100 hostages. Israeli authorities estimate about a third are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry reports that more than 94,000 more have been wounded since the start of the war.
Israel has been under increasing pressure from the United States and other allies to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on a demand that has emerged as a major sticking point in talks — continued Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow band along Gaza’s border with Egypt where Israel contends Hamas smuggles weapons into Gaza. Egypt and Hamas deny it.
Hamas has accused Israel of dragging out months of negotiations by issuing new demands, including for lasting Israeli control over both Philadelphi corridor and a second corridor running across Gaza.
Hamas has offered to release all hostages in return for an end to the war, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants — broadly the terms called for under an outline for a deal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden in July.
Rising reported from Bangkok.
Palestinians inspect the damage at a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital, hit by an Israeli bombardment on Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian children wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are treated in a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Demonstrators marks their hands on a window of a bus stop with photos of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a protest demanding a cease-fire deal and the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Demonstrators light flares as police on horses block their way during a protest demanding a cease-fire deal and the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A man holds flags next to mock coffins covered in Israeli flags representing the 27 hostages whose bodies have been recovered from Gaza, during a rally demanding a cease-fire deal and the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Palestinian refugees sit inside their partly destroyed house that was damaged during the Israeli army operation in the West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarem, in Tulkarem, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Israeli military vehicles maneuver during an operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinian refugees walk past the rubble of houses that were destroyed during the Israeli army operation in the West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarem, in Tulkarem, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Israeli soldiers arrest a Palestinian man as others walk by with their hands up during a military operation in Jenin, West Bank, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
An explosion is seen during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
