A nail bomb exploded at a mosque yesterday in a terror attack apparently timed to coincide with the funeral of Fusilier Lee Rigby.
The device blew up in a car park shortly before 200 worshippers were due to arrive for Friday prayers.
Community figures and politicians last night called for calm in the wake of the ‘premeditated attack’.
A change in prayer times because of Ramadan meant only three of the congregation had arrived when the bomb sprayed nails and debris into the air, wrecking vehicles and smashing windows.
Fears: A bomb disposal robot is shown searching the car park of the mosque where the explosion was heard
An explosion reported near a mosque in the West Midlands is being treated as a terrorist incident, police said today
The explosion, which occurred just one hour after Drummer Lee Rigby’s funeral, came from a car park at Kanz-ul-Iman Central Jamia Mosque in Binfield Street, Tipton
Police have evacuated an area outside the mosque after reports of a loud bang, feared to have been caused by a nail bomb
Locals were evacuated from their homes and dozens of worshippers – who had been heading to Friday prayers in the first week of Ramadan – had to be turned away
Bomb disposal from the Royal Logistics Corps arrive at the scene of the suspected bomb in Tipton. Police are now treating this as a suspected terror incidentLast night, Army and counter-terrorism officers were searching the area in Tipton, West Midlands, as locals pointed the finger at far-Right groups.
The attack happened as the private burial took place of Lee Rigby, who was murdered in Woolwich by Muslim extremists in May.
It is thought the bomb, which exploded just after 1pm, was thrown from a railway line.
Estate agent Rai Khan, 30, who was inside the mosque at the time, said it was like ‘being in a war zone’.
‘There was one hell of an almighty bang. There were nails strewn all over the place, I am amazed it didn’t kill anybody,’ he said.
‘[The bomb] was placed in the main car park during Friday prayers. It was obviously put there with that in mind.
‘There would have been hundreds of people arriving for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan. It’s chilling to think what could have happened if they had not decided to delay Friday prayers.’
TIPTON – A POST-INDUSTRIAL TOWN BESET BY POVERTY AND EXTREMISM
Tipton, a small town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, was once a beating heart of the coal-mining industry in the Black Country.
But it was one of many northern towns to suffer as result of the recessions of the 1970s and 80s and the rapid decline of coal mining.
Factories and industrial works turned into private and social housing, and the borough is now one of the most deprived in the country.
According to figures released last year, more than 92,000 are living in poverty.
Under 18s have been particularly hard-hit by the latest recession with more than 32 per cent living below the breadline.
The population is predominantly white British but there is a significant Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi community and there are a number of mosques to cater for an estimated 25,000 Muslims in the area.
Three Muslim men from the area Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal, and Shafiq Rasul, were captured by US forces in Afghanistan in 2001.
The trio, who became known as the Tipton Three, were transferred to the infamous Guantanamo prison where they were detained without charge as enemy combatants.
After long negotiations with the Foreign Office, they were eventually repatriated to Britain in 2004 and released without charge.
They later claimed to have suffered significant abuse during their time in the camp and tried, unsuccessfully, to sue the US government.
Umar Zeeshan, 43, was also in the mosque. He said: ‘I heard an extremely loud bang. I immediately thought it would be in connection with the recent attacks against other mosques.
‘Since Woolwich, the number of attacks against mosques has rocketed and fear is spreading across our communities.’
One local resident, said a nail landed in his living room 40 yards away from the mosque.
The attack comes amid heightened racial tensions following the murder of Lee Rigby, 25.
In suspected reprisal attacks, an Islamic centre in Muswell Hill, North London, and an Islamic school in Chislehurst, Kent, were set alight.
Three weeks ago, an explosive device was found outside a mosque in Walsall, eight miles away from the site of yesterday’s bombing. A 75-year-old man has been arrested in connection with that attack.
Adrian Bailey, MP for West Bromwich West, said: ‘It certainly seems that this may have been connected in some way.
‘At the early stages, everything points towards this being a premeditated attack.’
Police said whoever carried out the attack wanted to cause ‘a devastating amount of damage’
Police confirmed they are treating the incident as a terrorist attack following the discovery of nails and debrisASSISTANT CHIEF CONSTABLE GARETH CANN AT SCENE OF NAIL BOMBING
Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, called for ‘all communities to remain calm and support the police’.
He added: ‘We will not be frightened by these terrorists.’
RISING NUMBER OF ATTACKS ON MOSQUES IN WAKE OF RIGBY DEATH
There has been a spike in Islamophic incidents across the country since the death of British soldier Lee Rigby in recent months.
Tell Mama, the government-funded anti-Muslim attacks monitor, has recorded more than 200 ‘anti-Muslim incidents’ since the Woolwich murder on May 22.
Eight days ago, a bomb disposal squad made safe a device which was found outside a mosque in Walsall.
An Islamic centre in Muswell Hill was burnt to the ground in May while in the same month a mosque in Grimsby escaped a similar fate after an alleged firebombing.
Assistant chief constable Gareth Cann described the attack as an ‘act of terrorism’ which caused nails to be ‘scattered over a large area’.
‘Someone who did this looked to cause serious harm and serious injury to people,’ he said.
Last night Army bomb disposal teams could be seen using specialist remote-controlled robots at the scene.
The mosque previously hit the headlines when it was revealed to be the place of worship for three local men who were captured in Afghanistan in 2002 and held at Guantanamo Bay for two years.
Hartahn Hussain, 23, who prays up to five times a day at the mosque said he was shocked by what happened.
He said: ‘This is a multicultural and cohesive community, there is never any trouble here. What’s happened today is completely out of the blue and it’s taken us all by surprise.
They said the explosion came from car park at Kanz-ul-Iman Central Jamia Mosque in Binfield Street
Roadblocks have brought the area to a standstill, as forensic officers comb the area
Thorough: A police team can be seen carrying out a forensic search of a car park adjacent to the mosque
Terrifying: An eyewitness said windows were smashed and cars damaged by the force of the explosion
Close escape: Religious leaders said the car park would have been full of worshipers if Friday prayers had no been delayed
Lockdown: Police evacuated the area and took down evidence from locals as a counter-terrorism investigation began‘We’re all completely shocked and each time I’ll be going to pray in future I’ll be worried and looking over my shoulder.’
Lee Rigby’s two-year-old son wears a t-shirt which reads ‘My Daddy My Hero’ at his funeral todayThere was condemnation of the attack from Muslim groups.
Guhlan Rasool, Imman of the mosque, said: ‘The mosque condemns this mindless act and we would like to express our shock and dismay at this attack.
‘Together with the police and the rest of the community we are calling for calm and would urge people to stand together and will not let this incident divide us.
‘We are working with the police to track down any perpetrators, but at this moment, it is too early to connect this with any other attacks.’
Mr Shafiq called on people not to allow terrorism to divide the community.
He said: ‘I condemn the terrorist attack on the Kanz-ul-Iman Muslim Welfare Association Central Jamia Mosque in Tipton, West Midlands and urge all communities to remain calm and support the police to bring the people responsible to justice.
‘Today has been a difficult day for our country with the funeral of Fusilier Lee Rigby taking place in Bury and this attack against Muslims and our mosques.
‘Like we will not let terrorism divide us when Lee Rigby was killed, we will not allow these thugs and terrorists to divide Muslims from wider society.
‘With Ramadhan happening for the next four weeks I would urge mosques to step up security and report anything suspicious to the police.
‘Finally we will not be frightened by these terrorists from whatever background they come from, they will be defeated.’
The coffin of Fusilier Lee Rigby is carried from Bury Parish church in Bury, Greater Manchester. The explosion happened just hours after the funeral
Religious leaders have called for calm following the attack which came only an hour after the funeral of Lee RigbyIn a joint statement, the board of trustees and management committee of the Kanz Ul Iman Masjid mosque said: ‘We express our deep shock and utter dismay regarding the incident that has occurred this afternoon. We jointly on behalf of the local community condemn this senseless and mindless act. It’s a blessing from God that thankfully no-one was injured in the blast.
‘We call for calm and strongly urge the community not to let this incident divide us and cause disharmony. We stand united, stand together in the aftermath of this mindless act. We have worked hard to build good community relations and will not allow this incident to divide us or undermine cohesion in the borough.
‘We are working closely with the police with their ongoing investigation seeking reassurance to make the scene as safe and secure as soon as possible and track down the perpetrators.’
Read more: DailyMail
goodnight Rigby… to meet and part no more, you are the pride of great Britain! ash for ashes… you’ll live forever in our heart… and to the product of illusion, to those who shed blood to appease their mocking god! to those who castigate to win lost paradise should know that no amount of blood shed will stop us from upholding rational society for tolerance and development!