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The terrified Birmingham Muslim community is linking sledgehammer attacks on five mosques around the city overnight to the deadly New Zealand terror massacres.

Police confirmed earlier four mosques were attacked with sledgehammers in the city overnight, with reports of the vandalism flooding in over the course of about an hour.

They said they were called to reports a fifth mosque on Albert Road had its windows smashed at 10am today.

ITV reports that the attack took place in broad daylight, citing the mosque's secretary.

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West Midlands Police say they are treating all five attacks as linked and counter-terror police are working with them on the investigation, Birmingham Live has reported.



While the West Midlands Police and Counter Terrorism Unit are yet to establish the motive,the terrified Muslim community in Birmingham is linking the vandalism to the terror attacks in New Zealand.

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Security will be stepped up at the Birmingham mosques for Friday prayers following the attacks, which have drawn political condemnation.

Worshipper Rashid Mohammed, 33, a dad-of-three, said: "I was afraid something like this might happen after New Zealand. It was only a matter of time.

"I won't lie, I've been looking over my shoulder since Christchurch, even to the point where I make sure I'm by an emergency exit when I pray in case anything happens.

"All it takes is one small-minded racist and it is very sad to see this happening in this day and age. We are proud to live in such a diverse city and we are devastated that these incidents still happen."

The Government had doubled the fund for security for places of worship in the wake of the Christchurch attacks.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted to condemn the attackers: "Deeply concerning & distressing to see number of mosques have been vandalised in Birmingham overnight.



[West Midlands Police] are investigating motive but let me be clear - hateful behaviour has absolutely no place in our society & will never be accepted."

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West Midlands Police have confirmed the Witton Road Islamic Centre in Witton was among those attacked overnight Wednesday.

Officers say they were called at 2.32am today to reports of a man smashing windows with a sledgehammer at the mosque on Birchfield Road.

Officers arrived within minutes, but soon established that the attack had happened some time earlier.

Javid Iqbal, a spokesman for the Witton Islamic Centre, said: "It is very worrying after the atrocity in New Zealand.

"We've had a white intruder strike in the middle of the night.

He has arrived with a sledgehammer and smashed one window. The force of the swing has actually meant he had lost his grip and the sledgehammer ended up in the middle of the mosque.



Incredibly, he has then gone away for half and hour and come back with another hammer to damage several more windows. There's about five or six windows that have been put through.

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In that half and hour, other mosques in a two mile radius or so have been attacked as well. So I don't know if he was working in a team and there were several of them.



Mr Iqbal pointed out that people of many faiths had banded together in the wake of the New Zealand tragedies, and called on Birmingham to celebrate its multiculturalism.

"Whatever the case, it is just a minority of idiots that do not reflect the values of this city or this community."

He said the mosque had been boarded up, but it remained open to worshippers.

The centre was asking for extra police resources ahead of Friday prayers, Mr Iqbal added.

At 3.14am, police were alerted to a similar attack at the mosque on Slade Road, Erdington.

Police began patrols in areas with mosques and came across further damage at places of worship on Witton Road, Aston, and at Broadway, Perry Barr.

Forensic officers are working to identify evidence, and CCTV is being examined, the force said.

Neighbourhood officers are working closely with mosques around the West Midlands today, police added.

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West Midlands Police chief constable Dave Thompson said: "Since the tragic events in Christchurch, New Zealand, officers and staff from West Midlands Police have been working closely with our faith partners across the region to offer reassurance and support at mosques, churches and places of prayer.

"At the moment we don’t know the motive for last night’s attacks.

"What I can say is that the force and the Counter Terrorism Unit are working side-by-side to find whoever is responsible.

"At difficult times like this, it is incredibly important that everyone unites against those who seek to create discord, uncertainty and fear in our communities.”

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The four mosques confirmed by police to have been targeted are: the masjid on Birchfield Road, where a call of damage came in about 2.32amThuesday.

The second was at a Slade Road mosque in Erdington at 3.14am.

Patrols were then started in areas with mosques and officers came across further damage on Witton Road, Aston, and on Broadway, Perry Barr.

The Birmingham Council of Mosques had earlier released a statement saying at least three premises were “vandalised” on Wednesday night.

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A door and two windows were smashed in at the Masjid on the Broadway in the early hours.

Zia Uk Quran on Albert Road has been attacked too, with a thug smashing three windows and two glass doors.

The mosque's general secretary Naib Hussain said:"My God, all the windows and doors- I was worried someone maybe inside.

We told the police and they looked inside the building."



Adil Parker, from the Birmingham Council of Mosques, said: "We are appalled but not shocked.

It’s not been a week since what’s happened in New Zealand and we always expected some bigot to show themselves up.

In 2019, we can’t be expected to live in fear.”

Abu Bakr, 22, a worshipper and caretaker, said: “It’s sad, we haven’t even got over the New Zealand attacks. Rather then separating us, it’s bringing us together.”

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Sharafat Ali, the Imam of Witton Islamic Centre, said around seven windows and two doors were smashed between 1.30am and 2am on Thursday.

Mr Ali said the attack had left them scared in the wake of the New Zealand massacre on Friday, which killed 50 worshippers in two mosques.

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They were terrified after the vandalism, 66-year-old Mr Ali said.

"It's terrible, the community is shocked because of what’s happened in New Zealand," he said.

"We’ve been here for 30 years. In the morning you get 40 worshippers for morning prayer, on Friday you get about two to three hundred.



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"This doesn’t happen in Aston.

"Tomorrow is Friday prayers and I don’t know what’s going up happen.

"We are asking the police to give us more security.”

The Birmingham Council of Mosques is urging vigilance ahead of Friday prayers.

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It said it believed the attacked mosques were based around Handsworth, Aston and Witton.

"We ask the Masajids to be vigilant and do not hesitate in reporting any unusual/suspicious behaviour to the police immediately.

"It is vital you report it so it can be logged."

Video posted on Twitter by Birmingham councillor Majid Mahmood showed a clean-up operation in progress at the Witton Road centre.

He said the centre was attacked with a sledgehammer.

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Birmingham City Council community safety boss Cllr John Cotton tweeted that the "thugs" responsible for the attacks do not speak for the city.

"Appalled to see that Birmingham mosques have been the target of vandalism and violence overnight," he wrote,adding that he was working with the police and the council to find those responsible and support Muslim communities.



"These thugs do not speak for Birmingham & will not divide us."

It is not the first time Birmingham mosques have been targeted.

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Last August two mosques in the city were shot at with a catapult and ball bearings, smashing windows.

The Masjid Qamarul Islam mosque on Fosbrooke Road and Al-Hijrah mosque on Hob Moor Road in Small Heath were targeted during late-night prayer time.

The attacks come just under a week after the terror attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, that has left the country in mourning.

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The massacre at two mosques cost 50 lives, as innocent worshippers were gunned down by a white-supremacist manifesto-touring lone gunman who live-streamed the carnage on Facebook.

New Zealand has acted swiftly in the face of the tragedy, with the country's government banning all military-style semi-automatic weapons like those used in the attacks.

The attacks on the Birmingham mosques comes as the New Zealand Muslim community begins to bury their dead.

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A 28-year-old Australian man has been charged with murder.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has vowed to say his name to prevent him achieving notoriety.

Many Kiwis are planning to don headscarves on Friday local-time on the one week anniversary of the attacks, in solidarity with the Muslim community.





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One of the two mosques attacked, the Linwood mosque where seven of the 50 died, will be reopened for Friday prayers and guarded by armed police.

Ms Ardern announced that Friday's call to prayers will be broadcast nationally and the country will observe a two-minute silence.