Mosque targeted by car bomb in most recent anti-Islamic attacks in Australia

A suspected car bomb was detonated outside a Perth mosque in Australia on Tuesday night as hundreds of Muslims attended a service

Anti-Islamic graffitti was found on the wall next to the burning car
Anti-Islamic graffitti was found on the wall next to the burning car

No one was injured inside the Thornlie Mosque, which is located near the Australian Islamic College in Perth’s southern suburbs, when the car exploded shortly after 8pm outside.

Anti-Islamic graffiti was also sprayed on a fence.

According to the Guardian, worshippers reported hearing a loud bang and emerged from the mosque to find the vehicle burning.

“Thankfully our community won’t start hating and playing blame games and singling out groups of people in our society. This, undoubtedly is a criminal act of hate, but it is the act of a person or group not the greater whole,” Yahya Adel Ibrahim, a teacher at the Australian Islamic College, wrote on Facebook.

“Despite what just transpired, everyone stayed to finish their prayers refusing to give into the terror that had just occurred. I know the outpouring of support from the community will be overwhelming because Perth has the best, kindest, and most warm-hearted people.”

Mosques in Western Australian have been targeted before.

A pig’s head was left in a toilet near a mosque at the University of Western Australia in December last year, while a mosque in Rockhingham, south of Perth, was attacked with paint in 2014.

The Thornlie mosque has reportedly been graffitied previously with anti-Islamic slogans.