Two people have been stabbed to death at a mosque in South Africa’s Western Cape, about 60 kilometres from Cape Town.
Authorities say the attacker was a man in his thirties, who ignored calls to surrender. He was shot and killed in the process.
This is the second knife attack at a South African mosque in recent months.
In the previous incident, three knife-wielding men stormed a mosque just north of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. One person was killed and two seriously injured. At the time, police said the incident showed elements of extremism, but they did not comment on the motive.
The Muslim Judicial Council said worshippers were performing “l’tikaf” or seclusion in the mosque when the knifeman entered and joined congregants in morning prayers.
“Just after 3 a.m., when the worshippers retreated to rest, the assailant attacked the imam first and then murdered the members who came to the imam’s defence,” it said in a statement.
The city and the Western Cape province in which it is located is home to the largest community of Muslims in South Africa.
“The suspect, believed to be in his thirties and armed with a knife, was still on the scene and charged at the police who tried to persuade him to hand himself over,” police said in a statement. The suspect was shot as he attacked officers, police said.
