The Albany Gazette - Counter-terror cops probe suspected anti-Muslim 'attacks' in Edinburgh

Police Scotland said officers had arrested a 36-year-old white Scottish man and there was "no further threat to the public".

Footage posted online showed a bare-chested man -- purportedly the suspect -- roaming streets of the Scottish capital with a large weapon.

A police statement said they had received multiple emergency calls late Friday from people reporting "violent attacks including threats, robbery and vandalism across Edinburgh, with five men injured".

The victims -- two aged 22, and others aged 24, 27, and 39 -- sustained various injuries, said police. Three required hospital treatment, but none of the injuries were life threatening, the statement added.

Counter-terrorism and other police officers were investigating, the statement added.

Politicians in London and Scotland condemned the incidents.

"Absolutely appalling," Starmer said on X. "The suspect appears to be motivated by anti-Muslim hatred. I will not tolerate this -- he will face the full force of the law."

Scotland's First Minister John Swinney said he was "deeply concerned", in a post on X.

"There is no place for violence, racism or intolerance in our country," he added.

- Rising tensions -

Both the Scottish Association of Mosques and the anti-Islamophobia non-profit Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) said several of the victims were Muslims.

MEND noted the alleged footage of the arrested man circulating online also showed him shouting about "protecting the country" from Muslims, accompanied by expletive-filled language.

The organisation urged police to "treat this as what the evidence indicates: Islamophobic, far-right terror".

The mosques association noted: "In recent days we have seen calls for anti-migrant protests circulating online, alongside increasingly aggressive rhetoric directed at minority communities.

"These developments should concern everyone, regardless of faith or background."

The incident comes as tensions are high across the UK over immigration and diversity. There have been claims far-right agitators are fuelling racist sentiment after a number of high-profile incidents.

The Northern Irish capital Belfast experienced two nights of serious disorder last week after a knife attack, allegedly perpetrated by a Sudanese refugee, was captured on camera and went viral online.

There were also violent skirmishes between protesters and police the previous week in Southampton, southern England, over the handling of the murder of young white student Henry Nowak by a British Sikh man.

Detailing Friday night's incidents, Police Scotland said two men were initially injured in Sighthill, a west Edinburgh suburb, and taken to hospital by ambulance.

The BBC said it understood the attacks began near a mosque.

Three other men were subsequently attacked elsewhere, suffering different injuries, before officers confronted and arrested the suspect, according to police.

"The individual remains in custody and enquiries continue," Police Scotland said.

(A.Moore--TAG)