Five injured in suspected anti-Muslim attacks in Edinburgh; man arrested

Counter-terrorism officers are investigating a number of “violent attacks” in Edinburgh on Friday night that injured five men in suspected anti-Muslim incidents.

A 36-year-old white Scottish man has been arrested and police have said there is no further threat to the public.

Officers were called to the Sighthill area of the city, where two men were injured, at about 8.50pm on Friday.

The Scottish Association of Mosques said two worshippers were attacked in a park after leaving the Broomhouse mosque.

Reports then came in to police about incidents around shops in the west and north of the city. The force said that during this period three other men were allegedly attacked in the Telford Road and Leith Walk area.

Around 9.30pm, police equipped with Taser confronted the suspect and, although Taser was not discharged, the man was detained.

Posts on social media appeared to show a shirtless man carrying a long weapon roaming a street and battering a restaurant door in the Scottish capital.

Another video appeared to show the same man on the ground shouting about “protecting the country” while being held by a police officer.

Police said that five men, two aged 22, and others aged 24, 27 and 39, sustained a range of injuries and three needed hospital treatment. None of the injuries are life-threatening.

Omar Afzal, director of public affairs for the Scottish Association of Mosques, told the Scotsman: “There is a profound sense of shock, alarm and anger within Muslim communities across Scotland today.

“These latest attacks are deeply disturbing. However, they do not exist in a vacuum. For years, Muslim communities have warned about the consequences of anti-Muslim hatred becoming normalised in public discourse. When prejudice is left unchallenged, it creates an environment in which some individuals feel emboldened to act on that hatred.”

Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney, said he was “deeply concerned” by the incidents. “There is no place for violence, racism or intolerance in our country,” he added on X.

The anti-Islamophobia non-profit Muslim Engagement and Development urged police to “treat this as what the evidence indicates: Islamophobic, far-right terror”.

Assistant chief constable Catriona Paton said: “I want to send a clear message of support to all our communities that there is no place for racism or faith-based hate in a Scotland which is at its best when we stand together.

“Officers responded to multiple reports of a fast-moving sequence of events across Edinburgh before arresting a man and public safety was our priority.

“Extensive work is ongoing to establish all the circumstances.

“We are being supported by counter-terrorism policing and working under the direction of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.”

Police closed off Leith Walk on Friday evening as the incidents unfolded.

A major incident public portal has been set up to encourage members of the public to submit information directly to officers.