Europe
In the 1992–95 Bosnian war Bosnian Serb forces held Bosniaks in camps such as Omarska, Keraterm and Trnopolje, burned civilians alive in Višegrad, besieged Sarajevo and in July 1995 killed 7,000–8,000 men and boys at Srebrenica, which UN courts ruled genocide. Bosnian Croat forces massacred the villagers of Ahmići. 614 mosques were destroyed, among them the Ferhadija in Banja Luka and the Aladža in Foča. In Kosovo in 1999 Serbian forces killed Albanian civilians at Račak and Meja. Later, Muslims in Europe were killed in racist attacks in Germany and the UK, and states passed laws against headscarves, face veils, abayas and minarets and closed mosques.
Key numbers
Who is responsible
Bosnia: Army of Republika Srpska and Bosnian Serb authorities, police and paramilitaries (convicted at the ICTY/IRMCT incl. Ratko Mladić, Radovan Karadžić, Milan Lukić, Stanislav Galić); Bosnian Croat forces (Ahmići). Kosovo: Serbian police and Yugoslav forces. Laws and closures: the governments and parliaments of France, Denmark, Austria and the Swiss electorate. Attacks in Germany and the UK were by far-right individuals, convicted where alive.
Timeline
- 1992 Prijedor camps; Višegrad fires; Foča rape camps; siege of Sarajevo begins; Aladža mosque destroyed
- 1993 Ahmići massacre; Ferhadija and Arnaudija mosques blown up; Solingen arson kills five
- 1994 Markale market shelling kills 68
- 1995 Srebrenica genocide
- 1999 Račak and Meja massacres in Kosovo
- 2004 France bans headscarves in state schools
- 2009 Marwa el-Sherbini killed in Dresden court; Swiss minaret ban
- 2010 France bans face veils in public
- 2015 Austria's Islam law
- 2017 Finsbury Park mosque attack
- 2018 Denmark face-veil ban; Austria orders seven mosques closed
- 2020 Hanau shootings; Pantin mosque closed
- 2021 Austria publishes 'Islam map' of mosques
- 2023 France bans the abaya in schools
- 2024 Rioters attack Southport mosque
Records (30)
Aladža Mosque, Foča
The 16th-century Aladža (Painted) Mosque in Foča was blown up by Bosnian Serb forces in 1992. It was rebuilt and reopened in May 2019; its destruction is the only mosque case Bosnian prosecutors have indicted.
1 mosques & sacred places destroyed
Source: LA Review of Books: Bosnia's Mosques Without Muslims · Anadolu: Alaca Mosque, historic pearl of Bosnia, rises again
Mosques destroyed in the Bosnian war
Bosnia's Islamic Community counts 614 mosques destroyed and 307 damaged in the 1992–95 war, about 80% of the country's mosques, plus 218 prayer rooms.
614 mosques & sacred places destroyed
Source: Anadolu: Bosnia marks annual Day of Mosques · RFE/RL: mosque destroyed in Bosnian war reopens in Banja Luka
Siege of Sarajevo
Bosnian Serb forces besieged Sarajevo for 1,425 days from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996, shelling and sniping the city. 11,541 people were killed, including 1,601 children, and more than 50,000 wounded.
11,541 killed
Source: N1: Siege of Sarajevo began on this day in 1992 – 1,425 days · N1: Remembering 1,601 murdered children of besieged Sarajevo
Trnopolje camp, Prijedor
Trnopolje held non-Serb civilians from May 1992; it passed to the Red Cross in mid-August and closed in November 1992. ICTY prosecutors said several hundred were killed there; survivors count about 90 deaths.
Source: ICTY: Sikirica et al. indictment · Wikipedia: Trnopolje camp
Omarska camp, Prijedor
From late May to August 1992 Bosnian Serb authorities in Prijedor confined more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslims, Croats and other non-Serbs in the Omarska, Keraterm and Trnopolje camps (ICTY indictment). About a thousand people were killed at Omarska.
7,000 detained1,000 killed
Source: ICTY: Sikirica et al. indictment · Detektor: Prijedor victims recall infamous camps
Keraterm camp, Prijedor
Keraterm, a former ceramics factory in Prijedor, was one of three Bosnian Serb camps for non-Serbs set up around 30 May 1992; detainees testified to killings there. The ICTY convicted camp staff.
Source: IRMCT: Keraterm camp · ICTY: Sikirica et al. indictment
Pionirska Street fire, Višegrad
On 14 June 1992 Milan Lukić and others locked about 65 Bosniak women, children and elderly men in a house on Pionirska Street in Višegrad and set it on fire. The ICTY Appeals Chamber found 53 were killed.
53–59 killed
Bikavac fire, Višegrad
On 27 June 1992 Milan Lukić burned at least 60 Bosniak civilians alive in a house in the Bikavac settlement of Višegrad (ICTY).
60 killed
Foča detention and rape camps
In 1992 Bosnian Serb forces held Bosniak women and girls in houses, motels, Foča High School and the Partizan Sports Hall, where they were raped and enslaved. In 2001 the ICTY gave its first convictions for rape and enslavement as crimes against humanity.
72 detained
Source: ICTY: Foča case outreach · International Crimes Database: Kunarac et al.
Ahmići massacre
At dawn on 16 April 1993 Bosnian Croat forces attacked the Bosniak village of Ahmići in central Bosnia; more than 100 Muslim men, women and children were killed, some burned alive. The ICTY found it was not a combat operation.
100 killed
Source: ICTY: Kupreškić et al. appeal judgment summary · SENSE: Ahmići
Arnaudija Mosque, Banja Luka
The Arnaudija Mosque in Banja Luka was blown up about 15 minutes after the Ferhadija, on the night of 6–7 May 1993.
1 mosques & sacred places destroyed
Source: Wikipedia: Ferhat Pasha Mosque (Banja Luka) · RFE/RL: mosque destroyed in Bosnian war reopens in Banja Luka
Ferhadija Mosque, Banja Luka
Bosnian Serb forces blew up the 16th-century Ferhat Pasha (Ferhadija) Mosque in Banja Luka on the night of 6–7 May 1993. It reopened on 7 May 2016, 23 years to the day.
1 mosques & sacred places destroyed
Source: RFE/RL: Banja Luka Ferhadija mosque reopens · Wikipedia: Ferhat Pasha Mosque (Banja Luka)
Solingen arson attack
Four young German men with neo-Nazi ties set fire to the Genç family's house in Solingen in the night of 28–29 May 1993. Five Turkish women and girls died: Gürsün İnce, Hatice, Gülüstan, Hülya and Saime.
5 killed
Source: German Federal Government: Remembering for reconciliation · The National: Germany marks 30 years since racist arson attack
Markale market massacre
A mortar shell hit Sarajevo's Markale market on 5 February 1994, killing 68 people. The ICTY's conviction of Sarajevo-Romanija Corps commander Stanislav Galić covered this attack.
68 killed
Source: N1: Markale massacre's 30th anniversary: 68 Sarajevans killed · Detektor: Sarajevo marks 25th anniversary of market shelling
Srebrenica genocide
After taking Srebrenica in July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces executed between 7,000 and 8,000 Bosniak men and boys. The ICTY and later the IRMCT ruled it genocide and convicted Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić. By July 2025, 6,765 victims were buried at Potočari.
7,000–8,000 killed
Source: ICTY: Srebrenica outreach · UN News: Srebrenica massacre was genocide, tribunal confirms · MIA: Srebrenica 30 years on
Račak massacre
45 Kosovo Albanians were killed in the village of Račak on 15 January 1999 during an operation by Serbian forces. Belgrade called it a counter-terrorism action; in 2024 Kosovo prosecutors arrested five suspects.
40–45 killed
Source: Wikipedia: Račak massacre · IWPR: Witness says Kosovo massacre unplanned
Meja massacre
On 27–28 April 1999 Serbian police and paramilitaries executed about 372–377 Kosovo Albanian civilians near Meja, by Gjakova.
372–377 killed
Source: Wikipedia: Meja massacre
France bans headscarves in state schools
Law 2004-228, signed on 15 March 2004 and in force from 2 September 2004, bans conspicuous religious symbols, including the hijab, in French public schools.
Source: Wikipedia: French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools
Murder of Marwa el-Sherbini
Marwa el-Sherbini, a pregnant Egyptian woman, was stabbed to death on 1 July 2009 in a Dresden courtroom by a man she had testified against for calling her a terrorist over her headscarf. He got life on 11 November 2009.
1 killed
Source: RFE/RL: German headscarf killer given life sentence · The Local: 1,500 mourn stabbed Egyptian woman
Swiss minaret ban
On 29 November 2009 Swiss voters approved, by 57.5% and in 22 of 26 cantons, a constitutional ban on building new minarets.
Source: Ballotpedia: Swiss Minaret Construction Ban, 2009 · Swissinfo: Minaret ban approved by 57 per cent
France bans face veils in public
Law 2010-1192 of 11 October 2010 bans covering the face in public spaces; it took effect in April 2011, the first such ban in Europe.
Source: Wikipedia: French ban on face covering · The World: Does France's 'burqa ban' protect or persecute?
Austria's 2015 Islam law
Austria's 2015 Islam law requires imams to speak German and bans foreign funding of mosques and Muslim institutions.
Source: LatestLY (AFP): Austrian government to close mosques, deport imams
Finsbury Park mosque attack
On 19 June 2017 a man drove a van into worshippers outside the Muslim Welfare House near Finsbury Park Mosque, London. Makram Ali, 51, was killed and about 11 others were hurt; the attacker got life with a 43-year minimum.
1 killed
Source: CBS News: Police confirm man killed in attack on London Muslims · Anadolu: Finsbury Park terror victim remembered
Denmark bans face veils
Denmark's parliament passed a ban on full-face veils in public on 31 May 2018; it took effect on 1 August 2018, with fines from 1,000 kroner.
Source: Al Jazeera: Denmark passes law banning face veil in public spaces · Anadolu: Denmark bans face veils in public
Austria orders seven mosques closed
In June 2018 Austria's government announced it would close seven mosques and expel imams in a campaign against 'political Islam' and foreign funding.
Source: LatestLY (AFP): Austrian government to close mosques, deport imams
Hanau shootings
On 19 February 2020 a gunman with racist views killed nine people of migrant background at two shisha bars in Hanau, then his mother and himself. Federal prosecutors later found he acted alone.
9 killed
Source: Al Jazeera: Hanau shooting: nine dead in attacks at shisha lounges · Euronews: What we know about the Hanau attacks
Grande Mosquée de Pantin closed
On 19 October 2020 the Seine-Saint-Denis prefect closed the Grande Mosquée de Pantin for six months over a Facebook post about teacher Samuel Paty; the Conseil d'État refused to suspend the closure.
Source: Conseil d'État: urgent applications judge rejects suspension of closure of Pantin mosque · Al Jazeera: France closes mosque in crackdown following teacher's killing
Austria's 'Islam map'
In May 2021 Austria's integration minister published a 'National Map of Islam' with the names and locations of more than 620 mosques, associations and officials. Muslim groups sued, and attacks on mosques rose afterwards.
Source: Anadolu: Racist attacks on rise in Austria since Islam map · The New Arab: Austrian Muslims to sue government over Islam map
France bans the abaya in schools
Education Minister Gabriel Attal announced on 27 August 2023 a ban on the abaya in state schools from 4 September; on the first day 67 girls who refused to remove it were sent home.
Source: Dawn (AFP): France to outlaw abayas in schools · Dawn (AFP): French schools send girls home for wearing abaya
Southport mosque attacked by rioters
On 30 July 2024 a mob of about 300, linked by police to the far right, attacked the Southport mosque with bricks, forcing police to protect the worshippers inside, after false claims about a stabbing suspect.
Source: Religion News Service: In Southport, a mosque bears the brunt · Muslim News: Far-right violence hits Southport Mosque