A mosque in the British city of Manchester has been severely damaged in a suspected arson attack, police said on Monday. Five fire engines tackled the blaze at the Nasfat Manchester Islamic Centre on Droylsden Road in the northern England city and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said they are treating Sunday's incident as "suspicious".

No one was present inside the centre during the incident. "The fire is being treated as suspicious and a joint investigation has been launched," a GMP statement said yesterday. Nasfat (Nasrul-Lahi-l-Fathi Society of Nigeria) opened up in Manchester as a mosque and Islamic centre in 2009 and it has about 300 members.