British boxer Amir Khan left 'heartbroken' by New Zealand terror attacks
Amir Khan has been left ‘heartbroken’ by the tragic terror attacks in two mosques in New Zealand on Friday.
At least 49 people were killed after shootings at the Masjid Al Noor and the Linwood Masjid mosques in Christchurch, with 20 people left seriously injured.
And Khan, 32, took to social media to address his 2.22million followers after the attack – which was live streamed on the internet.
Heartbroken by the devastating news of deadly shootings at two mosques in New Zealand.
My heart goes out to the families of the murdered and all those impacted by this act of terror. Islamophobia kills – and has no place anywhere in the world.
— Amir Khan (@amirkingkhan) March 15, 2019
The Bolton-born boxer tweeted: “Heartbroken by the devastating news of deadly shootings at two mosques in New Zealand.
“My heart goes out to the families of the murdered and all those impacted by this act of terror. Islamophobia kills – and has no place anywhere in the world.”
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, who also used to play cricket for Pakistan’s national team, added: “I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11 where Islam & 1.3 bn Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror by a Muslim.
READ MORE: Mushfiqur – Bangladesh players ‘extremely lucky’ to miss attack
“This has been done deliberately to also demonize legitimate Muslim political struggles.”
The Bangladesh cricket team arrived at Masjid Al Noor minutes after the attack and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur said his team were ‘extremely lucky’ to have missed it.
Team manager Khaled Mashud added they missed falling victim to the attack by ‘three or four minutes’ and witnessed ‘bloodstained people staggering out of the mosque.’
I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11 where Islam & 1.3 bn Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror by a Muslim. This has been done deliberately to also demonize legitimate Muslim political struggles. https://t.co/5bBREoayLz
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 15, 2019
He added to media: “We were very close to the mosque, and we could see from the bus. We must have been about 50 yards from the mosque. I would say we were really lucky.
“Had we reached even three or four minutes earlier, we probably would have been inside the mosque. This could then have been a massive incident. We are very thankful that we weren’t caught in the crossfire, but what we saw was straight out of a movie scene.
“We could see bloodstained people staggering out of the mosque. Maybe in about eight-10 minutes, we were all inside the bus and were sitting with our heads bowed, just in case someone fires at us.”
