Extremists target mosque
Leaders of a Perth mosque say they have had to consider installing electric fences around the property to help protect against escalating attacks from anti- Muslim extremists.
In the past three months alone, the Masjid Ibrahim in Southern River has been the target of an attempted firebombing, damage and offensive graffiti and pigs' heads have even been dumped on a driveway.
The most recent attack occurred early on Saturday when vandals painted the letters KKK - representing the Ku Klux Klan - on several of the mosque's walls and doors.
Mosque spokesman Talha Patel said it was the 12th time that an incident had been reported to police in just over 12 months, yet no one had been arrested or charged.
"The behaviour of these individuals, it is just un-Australian in my view and it is only getting worse for us," he said.
"We've even had people posting on Facebook about blowing this place up . . . but when we report it to the police, nothing seems to happen."
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Security image.
Trouble began at the mosque not long after construction started in late 2013. Mr Patel said the building was continually damaged in an attempt to delay the opening.
Neo-nazi slogans and symbols, and the logos of other extremist groups, were also regularly daubed on the walls or in the carparks.
But the attacks took a more sinister turn in late December when Molotov cocktails were hurled at the building.
Mr Patel said that when plans for the mosque were drawn up, fences were deliberately left off as no one had imagined they would be necessary.
But alarms and security cameras have now been added, along with a 2.7m-high metal fence around much of the perimeter.
Doors and gates are also now only accessible via electronic pin-coded locks and floodlights are left on to illuminate the exterior at night.
Mr Patel said the mosque also hired security guards to work at night whenever news broke of a terror-related incident such as the Sydney siege or the Paris attacks.
"It is sad that it has come to this, but we feel we have no choice," Mr Patel said.
Quotes were now being obtained for electric fences and also motion sensing laser-based alarm systems that would detect intruders as soon as they entered the grounds.
