Deploring soaring Islamophobia in France, President Francois Hollande has vehemently condemned an anti-Muslim attack that targeted a mosque in the southwestern French city of Auch, stressing that Muslims “should be able to practice their religion freely and safely.”
France “strongly condemns an act such as this which undermines the values of our Republic and our respect for beliefs,” a statement by the president was cited by the Local on Tuesday, August 25.
The president was condemning the arson attack that targeted Salame D’Auch Mosque in Auch on Sunday, August 23.
About 70% of the mosque was burned down when flames gutted the building and destroyed two prayer rooms and large parts of the roof.
No one was injured in the attack that has been ruled as arson by investigators.
Reassuring the Muslim community after the attack, Hollande said that “everything was being done” to ensure the perpetrators were caught and punished.
“Muslims in France should be able to practice their religion freely and safely,” he added in the statement.
On his part, Prime Minister Manuel Valls wrote on Twitter that he condemned the attacks “with full force.”
Sunday’s arson was not the first attack to target Salame D’Auch Mosque. Last January, bacon strips were thrown at the building of the mosque following Charlie Hebdo attack.
The arson attack comes at tense time for the country’s six million Muslims who have been facing increasing hatred since Paris attacks last January.
Reflecting growing anti-Muslim sentiments, the Paris-based Collective against Islamophobia in France organization revealed that Islamophobic acts in France have increased by 23.5 percent in the first six months of 2015, compared with the same period last year.
It warned that physical assaults increased by 500 percent and verbal attacks by 100 percent during the initial months of 2015, adding that women were among the first victims of Islamophobia.
In April, the National Observatory Against Islamophobia warned of an unprecedented increase in Islamophobic attacks in France during the first three months of 2015, rising by six-fold than in 2014.
Islamophobic actions soared by 500% compared to the same period in 2011, according to the observatory.
