UK: 2 mosques in Birmingham attacked with catapult

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

Two mosques in the city of Birmingham in the Midlands were attacked with ball-bearing catapults Wednesday night, according to a statement from British police.

Masjid Qamarul Islam, located in southeastern Birmingham came under attack at 10.00 p.m. local time (2100GMT) on Wednesday and Al-Hijrah mosque, a few hundred meters away, was targeted minutes later, according to a statement from Birmingham police.

“Two mosques in Small Heath hit by catapult bearings, breaking windows during evening prayers tonight,” the statement said.

The attacks came after the arrest of a 29-year old man on “suspicion of terrorism” following a car crashing outside the British parliament earlier this week.

At least three pedestrians and cyclists were treated by emergency services after the alleged terror attack by the man who was identified as Salih Khater from Birmingham.

The attacks also coincided with the Islamophobia debates that followed remarks made by the former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, which targeted veil- and burka-wearing Muslim women by likening them to “letter boxes” and “bank robbers”.

Police said they have deployed “firearms officers” following the incidents as a precaution.

“Worshippers thought they were under attack by someone with a gun,” Imam Usman Hussain, from Masjid Qamarul Islam, told the BBC.

“The damage was on the side -- to the hostel part of the building, but it is all one charity. We are very concerned about the attack,” Wajid Hussain, who works for the Al-Hijra Trust and Masjid told the local paper Birmingham Mail.

Muslims are facing “unprecedented levels of Islamophobia”, Nassar Mahmood, a trustee of the Birmingham Central Mosque said.

According to Tell MAMA, an organization registering anti-Muslim hate crime, anti-Muslim incidents usually spiked after high-profile terrorist attacks in the U.K.

“These events are not the underlying cause of anti-Muslim incidents, but rather [...] act as triggers, where people with latent racial prejudices feel emboldened to act on their views, violently or otherwise,” a report by the group last month stated.

“We strongly condemn the catapult attacks on the Masjid Qamarul Islam and the Al-Hijrah Masjid in Birmingham last night,” said Tell MAMA.