A doctor has been stabbed in the back of the neck on his way to a mosque in Greater Manchester, in a suspected hate crime.<\/p>\n
Consultant surgeon Dr Nasser Kurdy was attacked outside the Altrincham and Hale Muslim Association at about 17:50 BST and was taken to hospital.<\/p>\n
He has since been discharged and a 54-year-old man and a 32-year-old who were arrested are being questioned.<\/p>\n
Greater Manchester Police have asked for any witnesses to come forward.<\/p>\n
Dr Kurdy heard Islamophobic comments at the time of the attack, community sources said.<\/p>\n
Police said the 58-year-old was on his way to the mosque, where he is the vice-chairman and has led prayers, when he saw another man across the road.<\/p>\n
“A short time later he felt an injury to the back of his neck. He ran into the centre and then called emergency services.”<\/p>\n
Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said it was a “nasty and unprovoked attack” to a “much-loved” man.<\/p>\n
Dr Khalid Anis, a spokesman for the mosque, said: “It could have been very, very serious.<\/p>\n
“He [Dr Kurdy] said he noticed someone cross the road and then somebody just attacked him from behind.<\/p>\n
“Obviously he was in shock at the time, he had just been stabbed, so the detail of those comments I don’t know – but there were definitely abusive comments made by the attackers at the door of the mosque.<\/p>\n
“We understand it was a knife, he is very lucky.<\/p>\n
“It’s a very unified town so for this to happen like this in the street, it is frightening.”<\/p>\n
Dr Anis added that Dr Kurdy is “in good spirits”.<\/p>\n
Akram Malik, chairman of the Altrincham and Hale Muslim Association, added: “It is devastating that someone has chosen to attack a community member, on his way to prayer.<\/p>\n
“We pray that Dr Kurdy makes a full recovery and the perpetrator faces the full force of justice.”<\/p>\n
Iftikhar Awan, who attends the mosque with his wife and children, said the community was “in a state of shock”.<\/p>\n
He added that Dr Kurdy was treated in Wythenshawe Hospital, where he works as an orthopaedic surgeon.<\/p>\n
Det Insp Ben Cottam said Dr Kurdy was attacked “in broad daylight”.<\/p>\n
ACC Jackson added: “People will want to know why the attacker did this and we are treating this as a crime motivated by hate.<\/p>\n
“It is difficult to say more than this at this time but there is nothing to suggest that this is terrorist related.”<\/p>\n
He said there would be an increased police presence in the areas to “reassure local people”.<\/p>\n
The Muslim Council of Britain said it was shocked by the attack and urged the government to implement its “hate crime action plan”.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"