Nadine Osman

Police in Germany launched an investigation into an attempted arson attack that targeted a mosque in Dresden on May 10.

A 34-year-old man who spilled flammable substance inside the Fatih Mosque and attempted to set it on fire escaped the scene but was subsequently apprehended at his house, according to police.

Ramazan Yildirim, the chair of the mosque’s foundation, said the assailant was known to the police, and it was his second attempted arson attack within a month targeting the mosque.

Turkish-Muslim umbrella group Türkisch-Islamische Union der Anstalt für Religion (DITIB) has called on German authorities to take necessary measures to protect the Muslim community.

“We are deeply saddened and concerned about such attacks targeting our mosques. We expect authorities to take all the necessary measures and hope that such attacks will come to an end,” Emre Simsek, an advisory board member of DITIB, said in a statement.

In recent years, Germany has seen an increase in racism and Islamophobia, fuelled by far-right propaganda that has exploited the refugee crisis.

According to the latest data, police registered at least 610 Islamophobic hate crimes last year across the country.
Some 62 mosques were attacked between January and December last year, and at least 39 people were injured because of anti-Muslim violence.

The figures also included dozens of hate crimes against Muslims, cases of intimidation, vandalism, and property damage.

A country of over 84 million people, Germany has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. It is home to nearly 5 million Muslims, according to official figures.