Three people die in South Africa mosque attack

A mosque attack in South Africa’s Western Cape province today left three people dead and more injured.

The lone killer stabbed two people to death while they were praying in Malmesbury, about 43 miles from Cape Town, the South African Police Service said. The suspect was then shot by police.

The attack followed an assault by three men on a mosque last month in Durban, South Africa’s third-biggest city, which left one man dead and two in a serious condition. While Africa’s most industrialised economy had long struggled with violent crime, attacks motivated by religion are relatively unusual.

The attack came at the end of Ramadan. Eid Eid-al-Fitr., the Islamic religious holiday that follows the month of fasting, may start as soon as Friday. “The Muslim Judicial Council is shocked to its core to learn of a brutal attack in Malmesbury,” the religious body said on its Facebook page. “We urge the community not to jump to any conclusions until clarity can be given.”