Muslim leaders have called for calm after a series of attacks on mosques in the wake of the London bombings. Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said in a letter to leaders of Muslim communities: “We know that there may be some unscrupulous elements in our society who may look upon Thursday’s carnage as a morbid opportunity to attack and undermine British Muslims, their institutions and mosques.”
There were reports of arson and criminal damage attacks on mosques in east and south London, Bristol, Leeds, Telford and Birkenhead. Police were investigating several other attacks on Asians that may have been linked to the bombings.
Police have increased patrols in Muslim areas of Bristol and were meeting community leaders to reassure them that they were making every effort to protect them from further attacks.
On Friday evening bottles were thrown at the Jamia mosque in the Totterdown district of Bristol. At about the same time a mosque and an Islamic school in Mile End, east London, had their windows smashed.
A similar incident took place on Sunday at the Shajalal mosque in Easton, Bristol, where stones were thrown at its windows in the early hours. No one was hurt in the attacks.