2nd mosque set on fire in Sweden in four days

A fire has ripped through a mosque in southern Sweden, days after an arson attack targeted another mosque in the European country.

Emergency services were called to the mosque in the southern city of Eslöv early Monday morning.

State broadcaster SVT said firefighters extinguished the blaze, preventing it from spreading.

No person was reportedly injured in the incident; however, the fire damaged the mosque.

According to other media outlets, it is understood that the fire erupted after flammable liquid caught fire in one of the mosque’s rooms.

Police officer Marie Keismar said law enforcement is “working under the assumption” that the fire was an arson attack.

The Monday blaze came just days after five people were injured in a fire at another mosque in the southeastern city of Eskilstuna. The December 25 blaze began after a firebomb was hurled through one of the mosque’s windows while 70 people were inside.

Sweden’s leftist Prime Minister Stefan Lofven referred to the initial attack as an act of “hateful violence.”

The developments come amid growing anti-immigration sentiments in Sweden, known for its liberal immigration stance.

During elections in September, the country’s extreme right anti-immigration Sweden Democrats party won 12.9 percent of the votes, becoming the third-largest party in the country’s parliament. The party, which has its origins in the neo-Nazi movement, wants the number of asylum seekers arriving to Sweden cut by 90 percent.