Authorities in southwestern Germany on Friday were searching for a suspect who stabbed a man inside a town mosque, an attack that has intensified fears of growing Islamophobia targeting Muslim communities in Europe.
The attacker fled following the incident in Backnang, 30 kilometers north-east of Stuttgart, according to a police spokesman.
The name of the mosque was not identified but the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) Mosque is the mosque located in Backnang.
An initial search for the perpetrator was unsuccessful and the motive for the assault was unclear, he said.
The 24-year-old victim was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he was being treated for a stab wound to the thigh.
Friday is the main day of communal worship in Islam, when many Muslims attend prayer ceremonies.
According to figures by the Anti-Discrimination Bureau of the DITIB, mosques suffered from 175 attacks in 2024, a fourfold increase compared to 2021. The report by the agency shows that about 60% of cases involve letters or emails containing threats, and these are followed by attacks damaging property and drawings of illegal symbols such as swastikas.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Europe's political and social landscape has witnessed what experts call a seismic and deeply unsettling transformation, significantly impacting its Muslim communities.
In countries such as the U.K., Denmark and France, the aftermath of Hamas' attack and Israel's ongoing genocidal war on Gaza has unleashed a sustained and entrenched wave of Islamophobia, far beyond the familiar episodic spikes.
