Five Injured After Arsonist Sets Fire to Mosque in Sweden

Amidst an intense debate over immigration, five people were injured after an arsonist set fire to a mosque in Eskilstuna, Sweden, Thursday.

While the mainstream parties want to preserve the Nordic country's liberal immigration policy, the far right has proposed the idea of cutting the number of asylum seekers allowed in Sweden by 90 percent.

At the time when the incident took place, around 15 or 20 people were present in the mosque - which is located in the ground floor of a building in a residential area.

The local media reports showed footage of the fire. Smoke and flames could be seen billowing from the windows, while firefighters tried to put out the blaze.

"A witness saw somebody throw an object through the window of the building, which serves as a mosque, after which a violent fire began," police spokesman Lars Franzell said, Reuters reports.

According to BBC, the five victims were immediately taken to the hospital for treatment of their injuries that ranged from smoke inhalation to lacerations.

Even though no arrests have been made in the case as yet, police are treating it as an incident of arson.

Alice Bah Kuhnke, the Culture and Democracy Minister, said that setting fire to a mosque was a serious attack.

"If information that the fire was arson is correct it is a direct attack on freedom of religion in our country," she told the TT news agency.

The town of Eskilstuna has a massive immigrant population and earlier this year, it was the scene for clashes relating to neo-Nazi groups that were opposed to Sweden's immigrant policy.