Mosques smashed in sledgehammer ‘race hate’ attacks
SLEDGEHAMMER attacks on five mosques in Birmingham are being investigated by counterterrorism officers.
CCTV images are being scoured to identify a man spotted smashing windows in the suspected race-hate attack, which comes in the wake of last week’s atrocity in New Zealand in which 50 Muslims were killed by a far-Right gunman.
Four mosques around the city were vandalised in the early hours of yesterday, while an Islamic centre was targeted later that morning in broad daylight. Cameras at the one of the mosques caught a stocky-looking man with his face covered carrying an object believed to be a hammer.
West Midlands Police said that while all of the attacks were believed to be linked and the counter-terrorism unit had been brought in, the motive behind them was ‘still to be established’. However, Adil Parkar, from the Birmingham Council Of Mosques, said he was not surprised they had taken place. ‘We expected something like this to happen,’ he added. ‘Every time there is an incident around the world we get idiots coming around and doing these things.’
Officers were first called at 2.30am to reports of a man smashing windows with a sledgehammer at a mosque in Aston. Less than 45 minutes later, they were alerted to a similar attack at the mosque in Erdington. Officers then stepped up patrols in areas with mosques and came across further damage at the Witton Islamic Centre in Aston – which was left with large holes in every ground-level window – and a mosque in Perry Barr. Police were called to the Mosque And Muslim Community Centre in Aston just after 10am after its windows were smashed.
Members of Witton Islamic Centre swept the broken glass from the pavement as the sun rose yesterday. Spokesman Javid Iqbal said: ‘It is very worrying, after the atrocity in New Zealand.
‘We’ve had an intruder strike in the middle of the night. He has arrived with a sledgehammer and smashed one window. The force of the swing meant he lost his grip and the sledgehammer ended up in the middle of the mosque.
‘Incredibly, he has then gone away for half an hour and come back with another hammer to damage several more windows.
‘In that half an hour, other mosques in a two-mile radius or so have been attacked as well. So I don’t know if he was working in a team and there were several of them. Whatever the case, it is just a minority of idiots that do not reflect the values of this city or this community’.
West Midlands Police Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: ‘Since the tragic events in Christchurch, New Zealand, officers and staff have been working closely with our faith partners across the region to offer reassurance and support at mosques, churches and places of prayer.
‘At the moment we don’t know the motive for the attacks. What I can say is the force and the counter-terrorism unit are working side by side to find whoever is responsible.’
Worshipper Rashid Mohammed, 33, a father of three, said: ‘I was afraid something like this might happen after New Zealand. I’ve been looking over my shoulder, even to the point where I make sure I’m by an emergency exit when I pray in case anything happens.’
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the vandalism was ‘deeply concerning and distressing’, adding that ‘hateful behaviour has absolutely no place in our society and will never be accepted’.
In the wake of the attack on two mosques in Christchurch by a suspected white supremacist, which left 50 dead and dozens injured, the police presence was stepped up at mosques across the UK. Earlier this week, Mr Javid doubled funding for security at religious buildings through The Places of Worship Fund. It provides funds for protective measures such as fencing, lighting and CCTV.
‘We get idiots coming around’