CNN: (CNN) -- Muslim community leaders in Australia say sectarian tensions are soaring, as radicalized
Sunni youth, inspired by ISIS, seek to import the religious conflicts wracking the Middle East.
"The tensions are very high and will continue to be high," said Jamal Daoud, a
Shia community leader in Sydney, where a 47-year old Shia leader was shot in the shoulder early Monday morning, as worshipers observed the
Shia ritual of
Ashura.
He said Rasoul Al Mousawi, a leader in the
Shia community focused around the Islamic center in Greenacre, south-west Sydney, had been released from hospital on Tuesday and was doing well.
The attack was only one incident in a string of attacks and threats against
Shia Muslims by
Sunni extremists who sympathized with ISIS, he claimed, and had followed an incident where a group of men had driven past the Islamic center, yelling comments such as "IS lives forever" and "
Shia dogs" in Arabic.
A security guard had also been attacked by a group of men who appeared to be followers of the austere
Wahhabi tradition of
Sunni Islam on Friday, he said.
"There's high tension between
Sunni and
Shia, but these extremists, they threaten and attack
Sunnis too," he said.
"Anyone who speaks against the fighting in Syria and advocating the government to take action against people in Iraq and Syria -- they are threatened and attacked."
Jamal Rifi, a Sydney-based GP and
Sunni community leader, agreed, saying sectarian tensions were at an unprecedented level as a result of the brutal Syrian conflict, and the appeal of ISIS to radicalized
Sunni youth in Australia.
» | Tim Hume, CNN | Thursday, November 06, 2014
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