Muslim worshippers targeted in London terrorist attack

A man drove a van into a group of Muslim worshippers near the Finsbury Muslim Welfare House (Northern London, UK) on Sunday night. Worshippers were leaving the evening prayers after breaking the Ramadan fast.

The police described the incident as an act of “terrorism”, which was “quite clearly an attack on Muslims.”

One man died, but he he was already receiving first aid when the attack took place, the police said. It is not yet known whether his death was a result of the attack.

Other 8 people were taken to hospitals.

The attack took place a few hundred meters away from the local mosque.

A 48-years-old white man is the suspect of the attack. He was not known to security forces.

After driving into the crowd, the attacker was held by members of the public and then detained by the police. A number of witnesses said the local imam urged people to remain calm: “Do not touch him!”, he said repeatedly, according to witnesses.

REACTIONS

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, condemned the incident as a “horrific terrorist attack” on “innocent Londoners”.

Prime Minister Theresa May visited the site after saying this attack “is a reminder that terrorism, extremism and hatred take many forms; and our determination to tackle them must be the same whoever is responsible.”

The attack happened in the constituency of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who said he was “totally shocked.”

MUSLIMS: ATTACK IS ISLAMOPHOBIA

The Muslim Council of Great Britain reacted by saying the attack was “motivated by Islamophobia”. The Muslim representatives asked for an urgent increase in protection for mosques.

The general secretary of the Finsbury Park Mosque said, in a joint statement with other faith groups: “An attack on one faith is an attack on all faith and communities”.

This is the fourth terrorist attack in the UK in only three months. It comes after the attacks in Westminster (London), Manchester and Borough Market (London).