Sweden’s largest Shia mosque burned down in suspected arson attack
Sweden’s largest Shia mosque has been partially destroyed by fire in what police are treating as an arson attack, RT reports.
Police spokesman Lars Bystrom said the fire, in the Stockholm suburb of Jakobsberg, appeared to have been “lit from the outside”.
No one was injured in the blaze at the Imam Ali Islamic Centre on Sunday evening, which caused major damage to the facade.
The mosque hosted around 500 people at a celebration earlier in the evening but there were only a handful of people inside at the time the fire broke out.
A police statement said forensic tests were being carried out.
Mosque spokesman Akil Zahiri told Swedish media he was “very troubled” by the suspected attack as the mosque “felt like another home”.
“This is the largest Shia mosque in Sweden, with thousands of members, and there are already dozens of members here on the spot right now,” he said.
