Manchester attack: 14-year-old schoolgirl in headscarf abused in street and asked 'when are you going to stop bombing people?'

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A Manchester teenager wearing a headscarf was shouted at on her way to school in one instance of islamophobic abuse in response to the arena attack.

The 14-year-old pupil at Manchester Islamic High School for Girls in the south west of the city was asked “When are you going to stop bombing people?” by someone on the street, said Mona Mohamed, the school’s head teacher.

“We asked our pupils to stay calm, to have empathy. The feelings are raw; people are shocked, upset and angry,” she told the Today programme.

Ms Mohamed said the girl was “upset and hurt” by the incident but had not responded.

The suicide attack in the foyer of Manchester Arena on Monday night killed 22 people and wounded 59.

Among those seriously injured in the explosion at a concert by US singer Ariana Grande were 12 children under the age of 16.

A Manchester mosque was attacked by arsonists in what is suspected to be a revenge attack.

The door of the Jamia Qasmia Zahidia Islamic Centre in Oldham, Greater Manchester, was set alight and badly damaged.

Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old Mancunian of Libyan descent, was named by police as the lone bomber.

Abedi returned from a visit to Libya just days before carrying out the Manchester attack and may have travelled to terrorist strongholds in Syria.

His potential links to Isis militants and recruiters around the world are being probed by investigators attempting to find out how he was able to transport a nail bomb into the arena.

When asked whether she felt pressure to apologise for or explain terrorism, Ms Mohamed said: “No and I will not. I don’t have an explanation. If I did, none of what happened yesterday would have taken place. It’s an inhuman act.”