South Africa mosque set alight by attackers: Officials

Unknown attackers set a mosque ablaze in South Africa's coastal city of Durban in the early hours of Monday, a leading Muslim organization said in a statement.

"The Muslim community of South Africa has received with shock and anguish the news of an alleged arson attack on the Effingham masjid (Mosque) in Durban," said Moulana Rafiek Mahomed, secretary general of the Jamiatul Ulama KwaZulu-Natal, in a statement seen by Anadolu Agency.

Mahomed called on law enforcement agencies to swiftly investigate the matter and appealed to the Muslim community to be calm.

"We had someone who was sleeping at the back end of the mosque and he was awakened by the sound of shattering glass. When he tried to investigate he found the entire ladies section engulfed in flames," Imraan Subrathie, an official of the mosque, told local channel ENCA.

He said the incident happened at about 1 am local time (1100GMT) and the perpetrators could not be immediately identified. He estimates the cost of the damage to the mosque to be about 1.5 million rands (nearly $108,000).

The Durban police have confirmed a probe was launched into the suspected arson.

Subrathie refused to speculate the reason for the mosque attack.

He said video footage from surveillance cameras has been handed over to the police for investigation.

This is not the first attack on a mosque in South Africa. Last year, two Muslim worshippers were stabbed to death and three others were injured by a knife-wielding assailant who attacked them at a mosque in Malmesbury outside Cape Town.

Police later shot the assailant dead after he ignored the call to surrender and attempted to attack the police.

Another worshipper was also killed at a Shia mosque in Verulam outside Durban in May 2018.

Prosecutors have since accused eleven men accused of attacking the Shia mosque of also placing explosives in multiple shopping malls in Durban. Prosecutors allege the men were inspired by the teachings of Daesh.

State prosecutors told a family court in Verulam, last year, that they had found eight Daesh flags and newsletters at the homes of the suspects during a police raid.