Albuquerque Muslim community in fear after killings of three men in 10 days

The killings also followed the November 2021 killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, another Muslim man, which local advocates and law enforcement officials believe could also be linked to the more recent attacks.

In the latest attack Nayeem Hossain was shot on Friday afternoon while returning from the burial of the other two victims, Aftab Hussein and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, who were shot on 26 July and 1 August, respectively.

His fiance, who was on the phone with him, heard the shot while he was waiting in a parking lot. Hossain had become a US citizen just two weeks ago.

Since the latest killings, the local Muslim community has been on edge and is trying to stay in as much as possible, Dr Mahmoud Eldenawi, imam of the Islamic Center of New Mexico in Albuquerque, told the Guardian on Saturday.

Abbas Akhil, who founded the Islamic center, added that they had asked Muslim students, especially those from Pakistan living around campus, to be vigilant.

The killings happened within a mile of the area surrounding the campus of the University of New Mexico, Akhil said.

Hate crimes targeting race and religion have the highest number of victims among other kinds of hate crimes in the state.

They have also been patrolling the area, he said.

The mosque usually attracts between 300 and 400 people at Friday prayers, a holy day for Muslims.

He mentioned the community had also been receiving support and solidarity from the local Christian and Jewish communities.

Eldenawi who has been in the community for 10 months, said the incidents came as a shock for him, as he had not faced any discrimination either in Albuquerque nor in Arkansas, where he lived for seven years before this.

Except for an attack where a woman tried to set the mosque on fire, he had not experienced any discrimination or hate crimes, he said.

Akhil, who founded the Islamic center, and has been living in the community for 50 years, echoed this.

Despite the attacks, Eldenawi said he did not have any fear being in the public eye as a religious leader.