Muslim-led campaign raises money for London terror attack victims

Muslim-led campaign raises money for London terror attack victims
British Muslims have raised thousands of pounds to help the victims and families of a terror attack in Westminster on Wednesday.
2 min read
23 Mar, 2017
Four people were killed in the deadly attack outside UK parliament on Wednesday [AFP]
A Muslim-led campaign to fundraise for the victims of the London attack raised over 3,000 British Pound ($3,700) just one hour after it began.

By 4pm GMT, the campaign had raised more than 12,500 British pounds ($15,700).

Named Muslims United for London, the campaign was launched by a group of British Muslims, including Muddassar Ahmed, who was witness to the deadly incident on Wednesday.

"A group of us decided to launch a campaign to raise money for the victims of the yesterday's attack," Ahmed wrote on his Facebook page, sharing the link to the online campaign.

Four people were killed in the deadly attack outside UK parliament on Wednesday, including a police officer on duty and who has been identified as 48-year-old PC Keith Palmer.

"The British Muslim community stands with the community during these difficult times and extends their support in raising funds to help with the immediate, short-term needs of the families of Keith Palmer, the other victims and the families of the victims," the campaign page said.

"While no amount of money will bring back lives lost or take away from the pain the victims and their families are going through, we hope to lessen their burden in some way."

The group urged British Muslims, mosques and faith leaders to back the campaign.

"We ask British Muslims, mosques, Imams, leaders, and groups to endorse and promote this initiative," the page said.

While Islamic State [IS] group claimed responsibility for the attack, the attacker was  a named as Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old man from Kent with previous criminal convictions.

On Wednesday, the Muslim Council of Britain released a statement to condemn the attack.

"We condemn this attack and while it is still too early to speculate on the motives, our thoughts and prayers are for the victims and those affected," it said.