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Police in London were told, Thursday evening, that a «masked» gunman had reportedly fired handgun outside Seven Kings mosque in Ilford, a district and large town in the capital.
Reports suggest that, while Muslim worshippers were performing evening prayers a «masked» man entered the Masjid. Worshippers rushed into ushering him out, then heard a gunshot, coming from outside.
No injuries or damage were caused, BBC reported, adding that what happened Thursday was not terrorism-related. Quoting the Metropolitan Police Service, the same source wrote that the incident in question is linked to another one that took place near the Seven Kings mosque.
Speaking to BBC, one of the worshippers who were at the mosque on Thursday said that the gunshot was heard half an hour into evening prayers.
«We were upstairs in the classrooms and about 30 minutes into the night prayer a large noise went off», he said. «It sounded like a firework or maybe something heavy had been dropped, so no-one really thought anything of it», he added.
«But then someone said it was a gunshot and that someone had come into the mosque and he had a firearm on him», the young worshipper said, adding that «the managers had seen him. He was masked and acting suspicious».
The Metropolitan Police Service said that the weapon was a «blank-firing handgun», adding that its officers are «working closely with representatives from the mosque and are providing reassurance to the local community».
Reacting to the incident, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was «relieved nobody was injured in the incident».
For the record, places of worship around the world have adopted heightened security measures to avoid terror-related attacks. Indeed, several places of worship were targeted by gunmen in the last couple of months.
In Christchurch, New Zealand, an Australian terrorist opened fire on two mosques, killing 51 people, while several churches in Sri Lanka were targeted on Easter Sunday.
