Masked Muslims ‘stand guard’ at mosques

Hundreds of Muslim men gathered on the streets of Birmingham amid a seventh day of disorder on Britain’s streets in the wake of a knife attack which left three girls dead in Southport.

Men wearing masks and balaclavas, with some carrying Palestinian flags, gathered outside a mosque near a McDonald’s in the city amid speculation that there would be a far-Right demonstration.

People were also seen standing guard around the Village Islamic Centre, with local shops shut and a hospital sending staff home in anticipation of violence.

It came as far-Right and anti-racism protesters faced off in Plymouth, where three police officers were left injured during the clashes.

Police largely held the two groups apart but the Devon and Cornwall force said officers were met with “sustained violence”.

The force has deployed 150 officers in the city centre where two protest groups have formed and said on Monday night that arrests were “ongoing”. Six people have been arrested so far.

In Birmingham, a crowd of men, some wearing masks and hoods, could be heard chanting “Allahu Akbar” as they vowed to “protect” themselves in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.

One man was seen to be wielding what appeared to be a large bat.

During a Sky News live broadcast, presenter Becky Johnson was interrupted by a masked protester at the same site who sped up behind her on a motorbike.

He shouted “yo, free Palestine, f*** the EDL” in a clip shared online.

The broadcast was quickly ended and security sent to the reporter, according to Sky News.

The broadcaster said a man in a balaclava stabbed the tyre of one of its broadcast vans but did not damage it and it escaped without suffering any damage.

A former independent MP candidate urged his fellow Muslims not to “go out” and “confront” Right-wing extremists, , arguing that this was what the protesters wanted.

Shakeel Afsar, who unsuccessfully stood for the Birmingham Hall Green and Mosley seat, told followers in a video on X: “We must not give the Right-wing extremists what they want. When they’re turning up to city centres there is no need for us to go there and try to confront them.

“Yes, if they announce that they are doing a protest outside a Masjid [mosque], you have the right to go inside, pray and defend the Masjid. But if they’re coming into city centres, my dear brothers, do not go there.”

Mr Afsar previously led a religious protest over LGBT lessons outside a primary school in Birmingham, despite having no children at the school himself. The demonstration was later banned by a judge.

It came as British Muslims warned others to pray before leaving the house and to not walk the streets alone amid fears they would be targeted by far-riot rioters.

On TikTok, a Muslim woman warned more than 11,000 followers to take precautions when leaving the house.

Others took to social media to claim they were frightened to take their children out, while other women claimed they had chosen to temporarily not wear their hijabs, for fear the head scarf would draw unwanted attention.

In a clip shared on social media, a video appeared to show vandalised Muslim graves in a Lancashire cemetery.

Footage showed white paint splashed over the gravestones.

“This is appalling and another new low,” the poster wrote on X.

“Muslim gravestones within a cemetery in Burnley have been vandalised with white paint and desecrated.”

Police said they were treating the incident as a hate crime.

Meanwhile, residents outside the Waterloo Road mosque in Middlesbrough, told journalists: “We’re going to be paying for this, and for what?

“This has got nothing to do with three little girls that have lost their lives. They’ve used it to cause utter mayhem on our streets.”