Outcry after several injured in attacks targeting Muslims in Edinburgh

Politicians and rights groups condemned a series of violent attacks that targeted Muslim men aged between 22 and 36 in Edinburgh on Friday.

Police arrested a 36-year-old Scottish man on the same day after five men suffered a range of injuries.

"I'm protecting the country from these fucking Muslim bastards raping our young daughters, raping our kids. Enough is enough,” the man was heard shouting at the police during his arrest.

The Scottish counter terrorism police launched an investigation into the attacks.

Counter-terrorism police are investigating a series of Islamophobic attacks in Edinburgh that left five people injured on Friday evening.

A white Scottish man was arrested in connection with the attacks, with footage appearing to show him carrying a weapon. pic.twitter.com/orPxo9lmQf

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) June 20, 2026

First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, said he is “deeply concerned” by these incidents. “There is no place for violence, racism or intolerance in our country,” he said in a post on X.

The Muslim Council of Britain condemned the attacks, saying they were “a direct consequence of political rhetoric that demonises entire communities.”

“This incident comes not long after racist pogroms on the streets of Belfast that targeted minority families, and is a direct consequence of political rhetoric that demonises entire communities,” the Council said.

UK-based non-profit, MEND (Muslim Engagement and Development), said the Scottish police should treat the incidents as “what the evidence indicates: Islamophobic, far right terror.”

“To investigate these attacks while ignoring a motive shouted aloud at the point of arrest would tell every Muslim in Scotland that the law does not see the hatred aimed at them,” the group said. The counter terrorism investigation came after the statement.

Call for emergency Cobra meeting amid rising Islamophobic hate crimes

The Prime Minister of the UK, Keir Starmer, meanwhile, called the attacks “absolutely appalling.”

“No one should face violence on our streets. The suspect appears to be motivated by anti-Muslim hatred,” he said in a post on X.

“I will not tolerate this - he will face the full force of the law.”

Sharing footage of the arrest, British MP Zarah Sultana criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s response, questioning why an emergency COBRA meeting was not called after the attacks.

“Where is the COBRA meeting, Keir Starmer? Or does that not apply when Muslims are attacked?” she said in a post on X.

A Cobra meeting is the UK government's emergency crisis committee convened during major national emergencies, such as terrorist attacks.  The prime minister has called a Cobra meeting following the stabbing of two Jewish men and a Muslim man in Golders Green, north London, in late March.

Following the meeting, Starmer said the Jewish community feels very much "exposed and vulnerable." Some criticised the prime minister for failing to mention the Muslim victim.

The attacks come amid a rise in Islamophobic hate crimes in the UK.

In one of the most recent incidents, a neo-Nazi teenager attempted to behead a Kurdish barber with an axe in a terrorism-motivated attack in Bristol in May. She has been jailed for 19 years and six months.

Met Police data published in early July showed Islamophobic hate crime offences rose 33 percent between April and May, from 135 to 179 cases, the highest monthly figure since August 2024.

The increase came after a decline in late 2025 and early 2026, with offences rising sharply in March, when the UK government introduced a new definition of anti-Muslim hostility.