Muslim schoolgirl taunted in Manchester: 'When are you going to stop bombing people?'

A 14-year-old Muslim schoolgirl from Manchester was reportedly taunted while she made her way to school by a passer-by who shouted: "When are you going to stop bombing people?"

The incident occurred in the wake of Monday's (22 May) suicide bombing in Manchester, which killed 22 people and left at least 64 injured.

The pupil was on her way to Manchester Islamic High School for Girls when she was shouted at, according to headteacher Mona Mohamed.

Mohamed told Radio 4's Today programme the girl was "very upset and hurt" by the incident, but "kept quiet and didn't want to say anything" – advice Mohamed says she gives to all her pupils in the event of being verbally abused.

"What's the point of reacting?" Mohamed said. "That's not the way we're going to tackle terrorism."

It comes amid fears of a spike in Islamophobic attacks as a result of the terror attack, which took place at around 10.30pm at the Manchester Arena.

The suicide bomber responsible has been named by police as Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old British Muslim of Libyan heritage. He died at the scene of the attack after detonating an "improvised explosive device".

In a suspected revenge attack on Greater Manchester's Muslim community, an unidentified individual was caught on CCTV attempting to set fire to the door of a mosque in Oldham just hours after the suicide bombing.

On Tuesday morning, a female Muslim student was then spat on by a stranger on Manchester's Oxford Road, The Tab reported.

Islamic organisations across Britain have condemned Monday's attack.

The Muslim Council of Britain described the bombing as "horrific" and "criminal", while the Manchester Council of Mosques said it was "mindless and unjustifiable".

Mohamed said: "To us, Islam is peaceful. If someone claimed to be Muslim and carried out an act of that kind, they're not part of us ... We're not going to stand here and apologise for them.

"We're going to stand all together, regardless of our race, gender, religion, sexual orientation. We are the same... and we have to go through this together. That's the only way that we're going to defeat an act of that kind."

Asked if she feels that she is asked to explain or apologise for extremist attacks, Mohamed said: "No, and I will not... I don't have an explanation. If we had an explanation... none of what happened yesterday would have taken place."