Several attacks on French mosques following Wednesday's brutal Charlie Hebdo shooting have added to the fear of retaliation against the country's Muslim population.
At least 12 people were shot and killed and more than a dozen others wounded in what is being called a terror attack against the French satirical newspaper on Wednesday. The publication faced threats prior to the shooting and was firebombed in 2011 for publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
Two Muslim places of worship and a restaurant affiliated to another mosque were attacked Wednesday evening and Thursday morning local time. Three grenades were thrown at a mosque in Le Mans, west of Paris, and a bullet hole was found in one of the mosque's windows, AFP reported.
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A Muslim prayer hall in the Port-la-Nouvelle district in southern France also received shots shortly after evening prayers, while a blast erupted at L’Imperial, a restaurant affiliated to a mosque in the French village of Villefranche-sur-Saone. No casualties were reported at any of the attacks.
"I am afraid that is linked to the dramatic event that occurred on Wednesday," Villefranche mayor Perrut Bernard told Le Progress on Thursday, referring to the attack on Charlie Hebdo.
Several prominent voices, ranging from Wallerand de Saint-Just of France's far-right National Front party to atheist author Richard Dawkins, took the opportunity to blame Islam in its entirety for promoting violence.
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With such rhetoric circling, Peter Neumann, director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London, argued that Muslims will likely suffer most from backlash. Speaking to The New York Times, Neumann said:
“Large parts of the European public are latently anti-Muslim, and increasing mobilization of these forces is now reaching into the center of society. If we see more of these incidents, and I think we will, we will see a further polarization of these European societies in the years to come.”
Muslims around the world condemned Wednesday's attack, rejecting the extremists' distortion of Islam for a violent agenda. Many urged the public not to conflate the religion with these isolated attacks, which will further fan the flames of antagonism.
CORRECTION: This article previously misidentified Dawkins as American; he is British.
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A man shows a sign that reads: "Je suis Charlie (I Am Charlie)", during a gathering to pay respects to the victims of Wednesday's terror attack in Paris, in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Eight journalists, two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor were killed, and eleven people wounded in a terrorist attack against French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
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A man holds a sign reading 'Je suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) as people observe a minute of silence in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on January 8, 2015 for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 which left at least 12 dead and many others injured. France observed a minute of silence Thursday, broken only by church bells, in honour of the 12 people killed by apparent jihadists at a magazine known for publishing cartoons deemed offensive to Islam. At midday (1100 GMT), crowds of people stood silently in public squares, schools and outside official buildings. Bells tolled at Paris' Notre Dame cathedral and in churches across the country. AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND GUAY (Photo credit should read BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images)
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Journalists hold placard reading 'I am Charlie' as they hold a minute of silence, on January 7, 2015 at the redaction of French news agency Agence France Presse, following the attack by gunmen in the offices of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Heavily armed gunmen massacred 12 people on Wednesday after bursting into the Paris offices of a satirical weekly that had long outraged Muslims with controversial cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. AFP PHOTO/BERTRAND GUAY (Photo credit should read BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images)
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British police officers stand in the rain to hold a two minute silence to show their respect for all those murdered in Wednesday's terrorist attack in Paris, including two police officers, at New Scotland Yard in London, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a weekly newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, methodically killing 12 people Wednesday, including the editor, before escaping in a car. It was France's deadliest postwar terrorist attack. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
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Journalist show their press cards during a minute of silence outside the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris, Thursday, Jan.8, 2015, a day after masked gunmen stormed the offices of a satirical newspaper and killed 12 people. Protesters in some U.S. cities repeating the viral online slogan "Je Suis Charlie" or "I Am Charlie" demonstrated against the deadly terror attack on a Paris newspaper office, joining thousands around the world who took to the streets to rally against the killings. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
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Journalists and supporters of press freedom show off signs reading "Je Suis Charlie (I Am Charlie)" during a gathering to pay respects for the victims of a terror attack against French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in Paris, outside The Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing 12 people, including the paper's editor. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
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People hold signs reading 'Je suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) place de la Bourse in Paris as they observe a minute of silence on January 8, 2015 for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 which left at least 12 dead and many others injured. France observed a minute of silence Thursday, broken only by church bells, in honour of the 12 people killed by apparent jihadists at a magazine known for publishing cartoons deemed offensive to Islam. At midday (1100 GMT), crowds of people stood silently in public squares, schools and outside official buildings. Bells tolled at Paris' Notre Dame cathedral and in churches across the country. AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCE (Photo credit should read LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images)
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The President of the French national Assembly Claude Bartolone (front, C), members of parliament and assembly workers gather outside the assembly to observe a minute of silence on January 8, 2015 in Paris, in tribute to the twelve people killed the day before in an attack by two armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. A stunned and outraged France was in mourning today, as security forces desperately hunted two brothers suspected of gunning down 12 people in an Islamist attack on a satirical weekly. AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)
Journalists of international press agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) hold signs reading 'Je suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) at their headquarters in Paris as they observe a minute of silence on January 8, 2015 for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 which left at least 12 dead and many others injured. France observed a minute of silence Thursday, broken only by church bells, in honour of the 12 people killed by apparent jihadists at a magazine known for publishing cartoons deemed offensive to Islam. At midday (1100 GMT), crowds of people stood silently in public squares, schools and outside official buildings. Bells tolled at Paris' Notre Dame cathedral and in churches across the country.
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Employees and journalists of the newspaper "La Marseillaise" hold the paper of the day, reading" I am Charlie" , in front of the newspaper building during a minute of silence , in Marseille, southern France, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, a day after masked gunmen stormed the offices of a satirical newspaper and killed 12 people. French police hunted Thursday for two heavily armed men â one with a terrorism conviction and a history in jihadi networks â in the methodical killing of 12 people at a satirical newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
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French journalists and their families show solidarity with the French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo at the French embassy in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the weekly newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, methodically killing 12 people at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo, Wednesday, including the editor, before escaping in a car. It was France's deadliest postwar terrorist attack. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)
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French municipal police prepare to observe a minute of silence in front of a police station in Biarritz, southwestern France, to pay their respects to the victims of the deadly attack at the Paris offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a weekly newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, killing at least 12 people, including the editor, before escaping in a car. It was France's deadliest postwar terrorist attack. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)
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French President Francois Hollande, center, with at his side interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, left, and Paris police prefect Bernard Boucault, right, stands for a minute of silence, at Paris Prefecture in Paris, Thursday Jan. 8, 2015. French police hunted Thursday for two heavily armed men, one with a terrorism conviction and a history in jihadi networks, in the methodical killing of 12 people at a satirical newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. The prime minister announced several overnight arrests and said the possibility of a new attack âis our main concern.â (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere/Pool)
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PARIS, FRANCE - JANUARY 08: People wear the phrase 'Je Suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) as they take cover under umbrellas in the rain gathering around the Place de la Republique at midday in solidarity with victims of yesterday's terrorist attack on January 8, 2015 in Paris, France. Twelve people were killed including two police officers as two gunmen opened fire at the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo on January 7. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
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People gather next to signs reading ''I am Charlie'' and candles placed on the ground, after observing a minute of silence in the old Harbor in Marseille on January 8, 2015 for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 which left 12 people dead. French security forces desperately hunted two brothers suspected of gunning down 12 people in an Islamist attack on a satirical weekly, as a stunned and outraged France fell silent to mourn the victims. AFP PHOTO / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT (Photo credit should read ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/Getty Images)
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Journalists show signs that read: "Je suis Charlie (I Am Charlie)", as they hold a minute of silence to pay respect for the victims of Wednesday's terror attack in Paris, at the European Commission headquarters, in Brussels, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Eight journalists, two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor were killed, and eleven people wounded in a terrorist attack against French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
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Members of the European Parliamnet show a signs that read: 'Je suis Charlie (I Am Charlie)', during a gathering to pay respect for the victims of Wednesday's terror attack in Paris, in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Eight journalists, two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor were killed, and eleven people wounded in a terrorist attack against French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
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General Secretary of the Elysee Palace Jean-Pierre Jouyet, bows his head foreground at left, and the Elysee Palace staff observe a minute of silence for victims of the shooting at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in Paris Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2015. With tensions high across Paris, French authorities focused Thursday on preventing new attacks and police hunted for two heavily armed brothers _ one with a history of jihadi ties _ in the methodical killing of 12 people at a satirical newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer; Pool)
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High school students of Paul Bert school gather to observe a minute of silence to pay their respects to the victims of the deadly attack at the Paris offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in Bayonne, southwestern France, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a weekly newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, killing at least 12 people, including the editor, before escaping in a car. It was France's deadliest postwar terrorist attack. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)
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MADRID, SPAIN - JANUARY 08: Members of the Spanish Parliament and French Ambassador to Spain Jerome Bonnafont pay a minute of silence at midday in front of the Spanish Parliament in solidarity with victims of yesterday's terrorist attack in Paris on January 8, 2015 in Madrid, Spain. France is on maximum security threat level after twelve people were killed yesterday, including two police officers, at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. (Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)
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Members of Sydney's French community gather in the heart of the city to hold aloft banners reading 'Je Suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) on January 8, 2015, in tribute to the victims killed after gunmen opened fire in the offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris the day before. The vigil, just metres from where two hostages and a gunman died after a cafe siege in Sydney's Martin Place less than a month ago, saw many French and Australians carrying white and black 'Je Suis Charlie' placards. AFP PHOTO/Peter PARKS (Photo credit should read PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)
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