Muslim men likely targeted and killed in New Mexico, police say

Aug 5 (Reuters) – The murders of three Muslim males in New Mexico’s largest metropolis up to now 9 months had been doubtless linked they usually seem to have been focused for his or her faith and race, police stated.

Two members of the identical mosque had been shot lifeless in Albuquerque within the final ten days and there’s a “robust risk” their deaths are linked to the November killing of an Afghan immigrant, based on a metropolis police official.

In all three circumstances victims had been ambushed and shot with out warning, metropolis police stated.

“There’s one robust commonality in all of our victims — their race and faith,” Albuquerque police Deputy Commander Kyle Hartsock instructed a Thursday press briefing, based on the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper.

Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, a planning director for town of Española who got here to the USA from Pakistan, was shot lifeless on Monday outdoors his Albuquerque condo advanced, police stated.

That adopted the homicide of Aftab Hussein, 41, from Albuquerque’s massive Afghan group, who was discovered lifeless of gunshot wounds on July 26 close to town’s worldwide district, police stated.

The deaths are doubtless linked to the capturing of 62-year-old Mohammad Ahmadi in a parking zone by a halal grocery store and cafe on Nov.7, Hartstock stated.

“Now we have by no means felt this a lot concern in [our] group,” Tahir Gauba, a spokesman for the Islamic Middle of New Mexico, instructed the newspaper.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a U.S.-based Muslim civil rights group, on Friday supplied a $5,000 reward for data resulting in the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals accountable for the deaths.

“If a bias-motive is decided, state and federal authorities ought to apply acceptable hate crime expenses,” CAIR Nationwide Govt Director Nihad Awad stated in an announcement.

Reporting By Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Enhancing by Shri Navaratnam

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