A mosque in Oldham was reportedly attacked by arsonists shortly after Monday night’s deadly suicide attack at Manchester Arena which killed 22 people.
The front door of Jamia Qasmia Zahidia Islamic Centre was torched and damaged.
A police spokeswoman confirmed to 5Pillars that around 2.55am on Tuesday 23 May police were called to reports of an arson attack in Oldham.
She also confirmed that no one was injured and the investigation is still ongoing.
An imam at Victoria Park mosque in Manchester confirmed to BuzzFeed News that there had been a suspected arson attack in Oldham that night.
Imam Mohammad Saddiq told The Daily Mail that a member of the public rang the fire brigade and no one was inside the mosque at the time of the fire.
He said: “We have no idea why somebody would target us. We are a religious and educational centre. I’ve been involved her for three years and never dealt with anything like this.
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“There’s a possibility that it’s retaliation to what happened in Manchester last night but we can’t confirm that.”
Mr Saddiq added that police were looking at CCTV footage and the door would need replacing.
Thousands of attendees, mostly children and teenagers, were leaving the Ariana Grande concert and heading towards Victoria Station when the deadly explosion hit the foyer.
It is the worst terrorist attack in Britain since the London bombing on 7 July 2005 where 56 people were killed.
Police are treating the Manchester suicide bombing as a terrorist attack and are investigating whether British born Abedi was acting alone or as part of a group.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on social media.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced yesterday evening that the terror threat level in the UK has increased to “critical” and 5,000 military personnel will be deployed in key sites around the country in the coming days.
