Scotland investigates Edinburgh anti-Muslim 'attacks'

LONDON: Scottish counter-terrorism officers are investigating a series of violent incidents in Edinburgh that left five men injured in what police are treating as suspected anti-Muslim attacks.

Police Scotland said on Saturday that a 36-year-old white Scottish man had been arrested after emergency calls were received late on Friday reporting a number of incidents across the city. The force said there was no further threat to the public.

According to a police statement, officers were alerted to violent attacks involving threats, robbery and vandalism in different parts of Edinburgh. The five injured men were aged 22, 22, 24, 27 and 39. Police said they suffered various injuries, while three of them were taken to hospital for treatment. None of the injuries were described as life-threatening.

The police statement said counter-terror officers were leading the investigation with support from specialist units and local police.

"Counter Terrorism Policing Scotland is investigating, supported by other specialist colleagues and local policing officers"

Video clips shared online appeared to show a shirtless man, said to be the suspect, moving through streets in the Scottish capital while carrying a large weapon.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney said he was deeply troubled by the incidents and condemned violence and hatred. Writing on X, he said:

"There is no place for violence, racism or intolerance in our country"

Muslim community organisations said several of the victims were Muslims. The Scottish Association of Mosques and Muslim Engagement and Development, a non-profit group that campaigns against Islamophobia, both identified the attacks as affecting Muslim men.

MEND said footage circulating online also appeared to show the arrested man shouting about protecting the country from Muslims, using profane language. The group called on police to classify the case in stronger terms.

"treat this as what the evidence indicates: Islamophobic, far-right terror"

The incidents come at a time of heightened tension in parts of the United Kingdom over immigration and diversity. Far-right agitators have been accused of stoking racist sentiment following several high-profile cases.

In Belfast, serious disorder continued for two nights last week after a knife attack allegedly carried out by a Sudanese refugee was filmed and widely shared online. In Southampton in southern England, there were violent clashes between protesters and police the previous week over the handling of the murder of white student Henry Nowak by a British Sikh man.