Harun Nasrullah
Several Muslim-owned properties and a mosque in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Čapljina City, which borders Croatia, were targeted earlier this month in a wave of Islamophobic attacks.
Imam Adem Suta, the head of the city’s Islamic Council, stated there had been numerous attacks against Muslims in Šurmanci town in recent days.
“First of all, the windows of the mosque were broken, and then the windows and a door of the mosque were hit with an air gun,” said Suta, adding that attackers also targeted houses of Muslims.
“Several attacks, breaking windows, and burglaries were also carried out on several private houses of Bosniaks, on that occasion, significant material damage was caused. The desecration of our religious building and the attack on the private houses of our congregations’ members is an attack on our religious and national identity,” emphasised the Imam of Čapljina.
Moreover, he called on the domestic and international public to unequivocally condemn the aforementioned attacks, and on the competent police authorities to ensure the right to safety for Bosniaks in Šurmanci.
“Members of the Čapljina Police Station carried out investigations after the report,” said Effendi Suta, adding that they will take the necessary measures and actions to identify the perpetrators, and will inform the public about the outcome of the investigation in a timely manner.
Police are investigating the attack and looking for the perpetrators, said Suta.
According to Suta, the ugliest attack was when a dead lizard was thrown into the area where a funeral prayer was taking place.
Islamophobic graffiti and murals threatening and denigrating Bosnian Muslims are common in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in regions where the Croat population is concentrated.
In February threatening graffiti, such as “Kill Balija (an expression used to insult Bosnian Muslims)” and “We will slaughter Muslim women and children,” were inscribed on the Franje Tudjman Bridge in Capljina.
The Dasnica Mosque in Bijeljina had its walls urinated on by unknown persons, according to the Islamic Union Assembly.
Čapljina is not alone when it comes to such incidents. Offensive graffiti have been recorded in many cities across Herzegovina. In the last year, in Neum, the letter “U” standing for Ustasha, the WW2 Nazi aligned Croatian units, was written on Muslim school, while graffiti with swastikas appeared in Mostar.
