Mosques and a Muslim prayer hall in two French towns were attacked early Thursday morning, the Agence France-Presse reported.
The attacks came just a day after a vicious terrorist attack on the French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo in Paris left 10 staff members and two policemen dead. Authorities have named two French nationals, one of them with ties to radical Islamists, as suspects in the attack.
After midnight on Wednesday, three blank grenades were hurled at a mosque in Le Mans, a city west of Paris, the news agency reported. One of the mosque’s windows also had a bullet hole in it.
A prayer hall was attacked not long after evening prayers. Several shots were fired at it but the hall was empty, according to what the prosecutor in Port-la-Nouvelle told AFP. The hall is located in southern France.
A third incident near a mosque reportedly involved an explosion at a kebab shop in an eastern French town on Thursday morning.
Fortunately, none of the incidents resulted in casualties. However, local prosecutors have described the attacks as “criminal” acts, AFP reported.
Islamic groups in France asked Muslims to observe a moment of silence on Thursday in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack. The groups have also asked imams to condemn the perpetuation of “terrorism.”
The search for two of the gunmen involved in the Charlie Hebdo attack continued on Thursday.
