Five injured in Scotland attacks that appeared to target Muslims, authorities say
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- Counterterrorism police in Edinburgh are investigating a series of late-night street attacks that left five men injured. A 36-year-old suspect was arrested.
- Several victims were Muslim, including two men assaulted after mosque prayers, fueling fears of faith-based violence.
- Britain’s prime minister and home secretary vowed zero tolerance for anti-Muslim hate, while Muslim groups blamed inflammatory political rhetoric for emboldening attacks and leaving communities ‘nervous and worried.’
LONDON — Counterterrorism detectives in Scotland were investigating after five people were injured in attacks in the capital that appeared to target Muslims, police said Saturday.
Police Scotland said that a 36-year-old man was arrested late Friday after officers received multiple reports of attacks in the west and north of Edinburgh.
The force said that five men — two of them age 22, and others ages 24, 27 and 39 — sustained a range of injuries, and three were hospitalized. None of the injuries is considered life-threatening.
The charity Muslim Engagement and Development said that several of those injured are Muslim. The Scottish Assn. of Mosques said that two of the injured men were attacked after attending prayers at their local mosque.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the assailant “appears to be motivated by anti-Muslim hatred.”
“I will not tolerate this — he will face the full force of the law,” Starmer said in a post on X.
Video posted on social media appeared to show a shirtless man carrying a long weapon roaming a street and battering a restaurant door in the Scottish capital. Another video seemed to show the same man on the ground shouting about “protecting the country” while being held by a police officer.
U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was “horrified by news of the attack in Edinburgh.”
“There is no place for hatred and violence against Muslims,” she said. “I know it is not who we are as a country.”
The Muslim Council of Britain said in a statement that the Muslim community is “rightly nervous and worried.” It said that the violence was “a direct consequence of political rhetoric that demonizes entire communities.”
Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton said it was a “shocking” incident. She said that officers “are being supported by Counter Terrorism Policing.”
“I want to send a clear message of support to all our communities that there is no place for racism or faith-based hate in Scotland, which is at its best when we stand together,” she said.
Lawless writes for the Associated Press.
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