A schoolgirl from an Islamic school in Manchester was taunted on her way to school by a member of the public who shouted, “When are you going to stop bombing people?”
The incident took place in the aftermath of Monday’s deadly suicide attack at Manchester Arena, which killed 22 people and injured 59 others after the end of a concert by Ariana Grande.
The headteacher of Manchester Islamic High School for Girls, Mona Mohamed, told Radio 4’s Today show that the teenager was “upset and hurt” by the comment but chose not to respond.
Ms Mohamed added that she advised her pupils to remain silent if they face Islamophobic abuse. “What’s the point of reacting?” she said. “That’s not the way we’re going to tackle terrorism.”
Monday’s suicide bombing was the worst terrorist attack in Britain since the London bombing on 7 July 2005 where 56 people were killed.
Police are treating the Manchester Arena bombing as a terrorist attack and have established that British born Salman Abedi was part of a wider network.
His brother Hashim has been arrested, as well as his father Ramadan who was detained by Libyan security services for having links with ISIS.
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ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on social media.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Tuesday evening that the terror threat level in the UK has increased to “critical”.
1,000 military personnel have been be deployed in key sites in Manchester and London yesterday.
