(Reuters) - New York City police were investigating on Sunday an assault on a man who was pummeled by suspects shouting "ISIS, ISIS," leaving him with bruises on his head and face, authorities said.

The 43-year-old man was attacked while walking with a nine-year-old girl in the Bronx around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, according to the New York City Police Department.

He was punched several times in the head, knocked down and kicked, police said. The victim, whose name was not given, was treated for injuries at a hospital and released.

He had been wearing a shalwar kameez, a traditional South Asian outfit featuring a long tunic, the New York Times reported.

The attack comes amid increasing anxiety in the United States over the threat posed by Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which has claimed responsibility for militant attacks around the world.

A Muslim couple inspired by the group killed 14 people on Dec. 2 in San Bernardino, California, just weeks after gunmen linked to Islamic State killed 130 people in Paris.

No one was immediately arrested in the New York assault, which is under investigation by the police department's Hate Crime Task Force, the agency said in a statement on Saturday.





(Reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Fla.; Editing by Stephen Powell)