Swedish mosque hit by arson attack, injuring five

From the BBC

An arsonist set fire to a mosque in the Swedish town of Eskilstuna on Thursday, injuring five people, police said.

About 15 to 20 people were attending midday prayers in the mosque, located in the ground floor of a residential building, when the fire broke out on Christmas Day.

Local media footage showed smoke and flames billowing from the windows before firefighters put the blaze out.

The incident comes amid a fierce debate in Sweden over immigration policies.

The far right wants to cut the number of asylum seekers allowed into Sweden by 90%, while mainstream parties are intent on preserving the country's liberal policy.

"A witness saw somebody throw an object through the window of the building, which serves as a mosque, after which a violent fire began," police spokesman Lars Franzell told reporters.

He said five people were taken to hospital for treatment of injuries ranging from smoke inhalation to lacerations.

Police are treating the incident as arson but no arrests have been made so far, Mr Franzell added.

Eskilstuna, which has a large immigrant population, was the scene of clashes involving neo-Nazi groups opposed to Sweden's immigration policy earlier this year.

Poor Muslims. A lot of the time you hear about the negative impact on the native communities when it comes to immigration and multiculturalism, in relation to Islamic customs and practices (not to mention ideological fundamentalism).

But it genuinely does sadden me to see this happening to a group of Muslims who, on the whole were probably very decent people and who - regardless of if they were - the arsonist probably did it without knowing or caring.

This is the Flood, Meta. You've gone incoherent.

This is the Flood, Meta. You've gone incoherent.

I'm trying to inject some real discussion value into this board. Serious, really, ought to be for explicitly political and religious topics.

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sweden is the new britain