'Car bomb' explodes outside Perth mosque with hundreds of worshippers inside
A suspected petrol bomb exploded outside a Perth mosque as hundreds of worshippers were praying inside.
About 30o worshippers heard a loud bang outside the Thornlie Mosque, near the Australian Islamic College at about 8pm last night.
They rushed outside to find a 4WD Toyota Prado completely engulfed in flames and anti-Islamic graffiti saying "F*** Islam" sprayed on the walls.
The mosque told 7 News that there were three other cars damaged and their windows were smashed in
Amateur footage showed firefighters and police extinguishing the 4WD, which was engulfed in flames,
Yahya Adel Ibrahim, a teacher from the college, praised police and firefighters for their quick response.
"Thankfully our community won't start hating and playing blame games and singling out groups of people in our society," he wrote on Facebook.
"This, undoubtedly is a criminal act of hate, but it is the act of a person or group, not the greater whole.
"I know the outpouring of support from the community will be overwhelming because Perth has the best, kindest, and most warm-hearted people."
Local Labor MP Chris Tallentire uploaded images of himself at the scene and posted them to Facebook with the message:
"Muslim community of Thornlie, I feel sick that you have to endure attacks like this.
"The truth is that this was an attack on all of us."
No one inside the Mosque was injured when the car exploded.
