Official: Minnesota mosque blast was caused by bomb
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BLOOMINGTON - Someone apparently through a bomb through the window of a suburban Minneapolis mosque on Saturday as people were preparing for morning prayers, damaging the imam's office but not injuring anyone, an official said.
The blast happened at around 5am at the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington. Police Chief Jeff Potts said at a news conference that investigators were trying to determine the cause of the blast.
Asad Zaman, director of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, said at a news conference that a witness saw something being thrown at the imam's office window from a "van or truck" before the blast. WCCO-TV reports that he said it may have been a fire bomb. Mohamed Omar, the center's executive director, said a worshiper saw a pickup truck speeding away afterward.
There were 15 to 20 people inside the mosque when the blast happened. Worshipers managed to extinguish the blaze before firefighters arrived, the society said in a news release.
