British police brace for anti-Muslim riots and counter protests

FILE PHOTO: A police car sits parked near the floral tributes in memory of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, three children victims of a knife attack during a dance event in Southport, Britain August 5, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) -British police braced for further anti-Muslim riots on Wednesday as far-right groups planned to target asylum centres and immigration law firms across the country, prompting anti-fascist protesters to organise counter demonstrations.

Britain has been gripped by an escalating wave of violence that erupted early last week when three young girls were killed in a knife attack in northwest England, triggering a wave of false messaging online that wrongly identified the suspected killer as an Islamist migrant.