More than 700 arrested in UK amid anti-Muslim violence | News

British authorities have arrested more than 700 people over recent violence targeting Muslims, immigrants and mosques, and police chiefs have confirmed that hundreds more suspects will be arrested in the wake of the wave led by far-right activists.

The British newspaper The Guardian reported that 741 suspects were arrested, including 32 people for crimes committed online, such as incitement.

The newspaper explained that the arrests were carried out on a large scale, as they included 36 out of 43 police departments across England and Wales.

Meanwhile, legal proceedings have been launched against the suspects, with 302 people formally charged, police said.

This total includes the Northern Ireland toll, where police arrested 26 people, 21 of whom were charged.

In addition, a British court issued the first prison sentence for online incitement.

But concerns remain about the possibility of renewed riots and violence against Muslims.

Directions to continue preparedness

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressed on Friday that the authorities must remain on high alert in the coming hours and days.

Starmer's directives come after a few nights of relative calm across England, following a week of unrest and violence against immigrants, Muslims, their mosques and shops in more than a dozen areas.

But unrest continued unabated in Northern Ireland, where police accused pro-British militias of fomenting night-time violence in Belfast.

Violence against Muslims and immigrants erupted after a knife attack that killed three girls at a dance school in Southport, northwest England, on July 29. Far-right activists were quick to falsely claim that the attacker was a Muslim and an immigrant, sparking a wave of incitement.

On the other hand, Britain's King Charles III thanked the police yesterday, Friday, for their action against the violence, attributing these acts to “the delinquency of a limited number”, and calling for “mutual respect and understanding.”

During phone calls with the prime minister and police officials, “the king stressed that he was greatly encouraged by the many examples of solidarity in the face of aggression and the delinquency of a small number, with the sympathy and resistance of the greater number of people,” a Buckingham Palace spokesman said, after criticism of the king's silence on the country's events over the past 10 days.

The King and his wife Camilla were quick to send a message of condolence to the families of the victims of the knife attack that claimed the lives of three girls aged between 6 and 9 years.