Two Muslim teenagers beaten outside New York mosque

Two Muslim teenagers were beaten outside a New York City mosque by an attacker shouting anti-Muslim slurs, a rights group said on Monday.

The Sunday attack was the third against Muslims in the United States this weekend, after similar incidents in Florida and Texas.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said a 16-year-old boy was attacked and severely beaten outside Brooklyn's Muslim Community Center as he took a break from prayers.

Surveillance video released by the rights group showed a man punching, kicking and stomping on the teenager as he lay in the street.

Another teenager on a bicycle was chased by the attacker and beaten.

CAIR said the man was reportedly heard shouting: "You Muslims are the cause of all the problems of the world" and calling the youths "terrorists."

Mohamed Bahe, the director of the mosque told BuzzFeed News that the boys had been standing outside when they noticed a suspicious vehicle parked close by.

"We had two volunteers, and they saw a suspicious car parked outside of our entrance. They looked at the car, trying to figure out who's inside," said Bahe.

"They saw a woman and they asked if she needed help. Then all of a sudden a guy comes across running from the street and punches him and knocks him down. He was stomping him and kicking him."

Afaf Nasher, the executive director of CAIR in New York, said the slurs warranted an investigation into a possible bias motive.

Bahe explained that prostitutes and drug users frequent the area on a regular basis, causing problems for the mosque.

The 16-year-old suffered a concussion, cuts, bruises and a badly swollen eye, and was taken to a hospital. The second teenager had a black eye, CAIR said.

Afaf Nasher, the executive director of CAIR in New York, said the slurs warranted an investigation into a possible bias motive.

However a spokesman for the New York Police Department said the police hate crimes unit had rejected the incident as a bias crime.

The police say the teenagers had harassed a woman in the car and were attacked by her boyfriend, a claim that has been rejected by the mosque director.

Also on Sunday, a Muslim doctor was shot and stabbed by three attackers as he walked towards a mosque in Houston, Texas.

The man was shot twice but is expected to survive his injuries.

The incident comes the day after another Muslim man was badly beaten outside a mosque in Florida.