Man arrested after Birmingham mosque knife attack
A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after three men and a police officer were stabbed at a Birmingham mosque.
The three men and police officer are being treated in hospital and are described as being in a stable condition.
Reports indicate an argument may have broken out inside the building prior to the attack.
The male police officer was injured when he arrived at the scene responding to reports that three men had been injured at the mosque in Ward End.
West Midlands Police confirmed that a 32-year-old man is being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder.
A police spokeswoman said: “Police were called at 11pm on Saturday night to a mosque in Washwood Heath Road, Ward End, to reports of three men with stab wounds.
“Officers arrived at the incident and whilst the man was being detained, one police officer also suffered a stab wound.”
The leader of national Muslim organisation, the Ramadhan Foundation, Mohammed Shafiq, said a nearby resident overheard an argument and believes the attack followed a dispute between members.
“It escalated into violence and a police officer has been stabbed,” he stated.
“People, anti-Muslim extremists, are going to try to take advantage of this – it’s very serious that a police officer has been stabbed during duty.
“The aftermath of the brutal murder of Lee Rigby has led to an increase of attacks. The involvement of a police officer in this incident obviously causes more concern.”
“There will obviously be people who will try to take advantage of this tragedy but we must not allow them to succeed.”
Today police are conducting patrols in the area to reassure locals and a cordon is in place while investigations continue.
Police are investigating whether the attack was a hate crime, a spokeswoman said; “We don’t know at the moment, it’s very early stages in the inquiry”.
“We can’t rule anything out at the moment.”
A number of mosques have been attacked since the murder of Drummer Rigby in Woolwich last month.
The killing sparked a significant increase in anti-Muslim incidents in the weeks that followed, according to the organisation Faith Matters, a group working to reduce extremism.
In what were believed to be reprisal attacks, the Islamic Somali Community Centre in Muswell Hill, north London, was burnt to the ground while the Grimsby Islamic Cultural Centre was targeted by arsonists who threw petrol bombs.