Two Muslim worshippers were injured after a group of thugs carrying bottles and hockey sticks launched a “racially aggravated” assault outisde a mosque on Tuesday night.
The group attacked people going into Sri Lankan Muslim Centre in East Ham for iftar - the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset.
Eyewitnesses said there were about 15 European males armed with wooden poles, beer bottles, fluorescent light tubes and stones who turned up outside the Barking Road mosque at 9pm on Tuesday.
The two worshippers sustained minor injuries from broken glass .
Remnants of burned documents and papers were found outside the mosque believed to have been left when one of the attackers tried to start a fire in their bins.
A Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed officers were investugating “a report of racially aggravated common assault following an incident outside a mosque in East Ham”.
“Police were called to reports that a group of men in Pilgrims Way, armed with bottles and hockey sticks, had attacked members of the mosque.
“One suspect is said to have set alight some paper in a bin outside the mosque.
“The suspects fled prior to the police’s arrival.
“Officers searched the area but found no trace of the suspects.
“A number of people suffered minor injuries but did not require medical treatment.
Police said they would put on extra patrols in the area as a result.
“No arrests have been made.”
