Two teenage boys have been arrested on suspicion of attacking a 73-year-old man as he walked home from a mosque in Birmingham.
The 16-year-olds were taken into custody for questioning in connection with the “appalling” assault in the Kings Heath area of the city on Wednesday night, West Midlands police said.
The incident occurred days after a 70-year-old man was set on fire as he left a mosque in Edgbaston last week.
Police said the motive for the Kings Heath attack was not clear but there was nothing to suggest any connection to the attack in Edgbaston.
Mohammed Abbkr, 28, has been charged with attempting to murder Mohammed Rayaz, 70, who was set on fire as he walked home from Dudley Road mosque last week. He has also been charged with setting alight another elderly man who had left a mosque in London.
Sgt Chris Gallon, of Moseley and Kings Heath police, said after the latest incident: “This was an appalling attack on a member of the public who was heading home.
“We’ll be taking a full statement from the victim, who remains in hospital today, and we’ve already got officers in the area this morning recovering CCTV and carrying out house-to-house inquiries. We are working hard to identify the attackers and the car they were in.”
CCTV footage of the attack showed the 73-year-old man being kicked in the back and falling to the ground as he left Kings Heath mosque at about 11pm on Wednesday.
Police said the attack had been carried out by three men who emerged from a black parked car. In the footage, the men can be heard shouting “Yo, yo” and other words before one runs up and kicks the worshipper into advertising boards.
The man was taken to hospital with a broken hand and cuts to his face.
