Multiple mosques attacked in Birmingham

Five mosques in Birmingham are cleaning up the damage after a string of violent attacks.

Reports were received of a man smashing windows at a mosque in the suburb of Lozells at 2:30am on Thursday (local time), before more flooded in from suburbs across the city, the BBC reports.

Local police said a motive has not been established, but officers from the counter-terrorism unit are investigating.

The attack has left some worshippers afraid to go to the mosques in light of the recent attack on two Christchurch mosques that left 50 people dead.

"We were deeply horrified to hear a number of mosques were vandalised during the early hours of this morning," the Birmingham Council of Mosques said in a statement.

"Birmingham's mosques are a place of worship, serenity and a source of peace and tranquillity. We are appalled by such acts of hate/terror."

Local government representative John Cotton said the "thugs" that carried out the attack do not speak for Birmingham, and will not divide the community.

The West Midlands Police have vowed to catch whoever is behind the attack.

"What we have today is broken windows, but what people... are trying [is] to break our spirit, and break the cohesion that exists between all the people of the varied faiths and diverse community that we have here in the West Midlands," Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said.

"What I'm here today to say is that those people are not going to succeed and people who carry out this type of criminality will be hunted down relentlessly."

Newshub.