The US Justice Department has warned that top prosecutors from across America are concerned over an increasing spate of anti-Muslim threats in the country.
The department said on Wednesday that senior attorneys from 11 US states including California and Colorado have expressed worries about the increase in anti-Muslim threats.
It said local law enforcement authorities and community leaders across the US would hold discussions "to address backlash against Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian Americans following the tragic terrorist attacks in Brussels, Paris and San Bernardino."
"There is no place for intolerance in our country," US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.
"In the weeks and months ahead, the Department of Justice will continue to work with local law enforcement partners and community leaders to defend the safety and the dignity of all our people."
The Justice Department said since the 9/11 incidents in America, it has probed over 1,000 cases involving acts of violence, threats, assaults, vandalism and arsons against Arabs, Muslims, Sikhs and South Asians as well as people perceived to be members of these groups.
One such incident involved a man who pleaded guilty to opening fire outside a mosque in Connecticut, and another man who threatened to bomb two mosques and shoot worshipers.
"These events underscore our ongoing commitment to safeguard the civil rights of every American - including Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian Americans, who are so often the targets of threats on the basis of their appearance or religion," Lynch said.
Back in 2015, the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) listed 63 incidents of vandalism against mosques and Muslims throughout the year.
The rise of Islamophobia and threats against Muslims has been exacerbated after last year’s terror attacks in Paris, where Daesh-affiliated terrorists killed scores of people during coordinated attacks in the French capital last November.
This is while prominent Muslim leaders and organizations have time and again denounced terrorism, stressing that violence has no place in the teachings of Islam.
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