US President Joe Biden said in a social media statement that “I am outraged and saddened by the horrific killing of four Muslims in Albuquerque.” “While we wait for a full investigation, I pray with the families of the victims, and my administration is firmly on the side of the Muslim community,” he said, stressing that “these hateful attacks have no place in America.”

US police said yesterday that the murders of three Muslim men in the largest city in the US state of New Mexico over the past nine months were likely linked to each other, and that the men were apparently targeted because of their religious and ethnic background. accessories.

Over the past 10 days, two visitors to the same mosque have been shot dead in Albuquerque. A city police official said there was a “strong possibility” that their deaths were linked to the murder of an Afghan immigrant in November.

The city police indicated that “the victims in all three cases were ambushed and shot without warning.”

“All of our victims bear a strong racial and religious affinity,” Albuquerque Police Deputy Chief Kyle Hartsock told the Santa Fe, New Mexico newspaper.

Police said Muhammad Afzal Hussein, 27, who was Espanola’s planning director and came to the United States from Pakistan, was shot dead on Monday outside his apartment complex in Albuquerque. in Albuquerque, who was found shot to death on July 26 near the city’s international zone.

Hartstock said the two crimes were likely linked to the November 7 shooting of Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, in the parking lot of a supermarket and cafe.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a US-based Muslim advocacy organization, has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for these crimes.