Four men, including a police officer, have been stabbed at a mosque in Birmingham, UK. Police have taken a 32-year-old man into custody in connection with the attacks that left four victims in hospital.

Officers arrived at the scene responding to reports of the first three attacks at 11pm local time (22:00 GMT). One of the officers subsequently sustained stab injuries while apprehending the suspect.

Police quickly cordoned off the area around the mosque in the Ward End neighborhood in the East of Birmingham. All four of the injured are currently in a ‘stable’ condition in hospital, police said in a statement.

Officers are now patrolling the neighborhood around the mosque in an attempt to "reassure local people."

UK Muslim group the Ramadhan Foundation has already responded to the attacks, expressing “deep concern” for the victims and their families.

"It is too early to speculate on the circumstances of the stabbings, but we must be clear there should be no place for this sort of violence in our country,” said a spokesman for the group, adding that "there will obviously be people who will try to take advantage of this tragedy but we must not allow them to succeed."

The news comes less than a month after the fatal Woolwich stabbing of UK soldier Lee Rigby, 25, in South-East London, allegedly by Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22. The murderers were motivated by anti-Western sentiments and claimed the attack to be revenge for the plight of Muslims across the world. 

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