Police probe attacks on four mosques in Birmingham

AFP  |  London 

Four mosques in the central English city of have been attacked overnight, with a man wielding a seen smashing windows at two places of worship, the police said on Thursday.

The force added the incidents "are being treated as linked".

"At the moment we don't know the motive for last night's attacks," said in a statement.

"What I can say is that the force and the counter terrorism unit are working side-by-side to find whoever is responsible."

Officers were first alerted in the early hours of Thursday to reports of a man smashing windows with a at one of the places of worship, police said.

Following reports of a similar attack at another in a nearby neighbourhood, officers launched targeted patrols and discovered "further damage" at two other sites.

"Forensic officers are working to identify evidence, and CCTV is being examined," the West Midlands force added.

British national police chiefs last week announced officers were providing "reassurance patrols" around mosques in the immediate aftermath of Friday's deadly gun rampage in

Anti-racism groups have warned Islamophobia is on the rise in Britain and spurring a spike in far-right activity in the country.

A report released last month by the charity cited a poll which found more than a third of Britons see as "generally a threat to the British way of life".

In another recent incident, -- an imam who won praise for shielding the perpetrator of a 2017 deadly terror attack against a north -- reported he was spat at and abused this week.

Mahmoud said he was targeted Monday while returning home from a solidarity event for the massacre with other religious leaders, as well as and

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Thu, March 21 2019. 17:10 IST