Police talk with residents outside the Washwood Heath Muslim Centre, Washwood Heath Road in Ward End, Birmingham, yesterday.

Agencies/London

A police officer stabbed in a mosque by a man brandishing a large combat knife has been praised for his “heroic” actions as he helped arrest the knifeman despite his injuries.

The unnamed West Midlands Police officer is being treated in hospital for chest and stomach injuries after the attack at the mosque in the Ward End area of Birmingham on Saturday night.

Three others were injured and a 32-year-old man, who police say is a local man believed to be of Somalian descent, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Unarmed officers were called to reports that a man armed with a knife had stabbed people in the mosque and arrived four minutes later.

As the attacker came at police with the knife inside the mosque, the officer fired a Taser which hit the knifeman but it had no effect.

Describing the chain of the events as he spoke at the scene of the attack, chief superintendent Alex Murray said: “The individual stabbed the officer in the chest and in the stomach around the stab proof vest that he was wearing.

“The officer, although stabbed, and with a colleague managed to disarm the individual and make an arrest.”

He thanked officers and those who helped inside the mosque for their “heroic” actions.

“There was some real brave action going on inside that mosque,” Murray said.

The injured officer is aged 31 and from the Yardley Wood area of Birmingham. He has served with West Midlands Police since 2007. His family is by his bedside as he is treated in hospital.

Murray said the suspect, who was not a regular at the mosque in Washwood Heath Road, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and is currently being questioned by police.

The motivation for the attack is still not clear, he said. “We don’t understand the motivation of this individual. We understand he wasn’t known to the mosque,” Murray said. “There’s no connection with any other incidents that we can see at the moment - for example, Woolwich or other incidents around the country - but we’re exploring all lines of inquiry in relation to what motivated this individual to do such a thing.

“There’s no information at this stage to suggest it was a hate crime.”

Mohamed Shafiq, the leader of national Muslim organisation, the Ramadhan Foundation, said: “Our immediate thoughts are with the victims injured and their families. It is too early to speculate on the circumstances of the stabbings but we must be clear there should be no place for this sort of violence in our country.”

West Midlands Police said high-visibility patrols have been stepped up in the area to reassure the local community and urged people to contact the force if they have any information relating to the attack.