Mosques attacked after killing of soldier

SOURCE: B92
LONDON -- Over 100 members of Britain's ultra right-wing group EDL gathered last night near the spot where a British soldier was brutally murdered in London.

 


People heckle London Mayor Boris Johnson, not pictured, as he leave the scene of the attack (Beta/AP)
They clashed with the police, throwing bottles at officers, and "continued to run riot and sing nationalists songs in a local pub" after the police formed a cordon.

The police said they received reports of attacks against mosques throughout London later during the night, but that they could not make a direct connection with the murder of the soldier - reportedly committed by two Islamists.

However, eyewitnesses said that "it was clear from the attackers' behavior that it was about revenge."

A local Muslim said that a brick was used to smash a window on a nearby mosque, while two men were arrested elsewhere in the city for attacking other mosques.

Another man was detained for attacking a mosque in Kent, said the police.

According to reports, the soldier was "hacked to death" on Wednesday in London by two British men of African origin.

One of them later approached a CCTV camera holding a knife and meat cleaver in bloodied hands, and said, "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day. This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

According to a Reuters report, British Prime Minister David Cameron held an emergency meeting of his intelligence chiefs to assess the response to what he called a "terrorist" attack.