By Catholic News Service • Posted September 17, 2013

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania (CNS) — A priest was hospitalized on the island of Zanzibar after acid was thrown at him, police said.

The Sept. 13 attack left Father Joseph Mwaganbwa with injuries to his face, chest, thighs and legs, the Associate Press reported.

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The attack occurred in a crowded part of Stone Town after Father Mwaganbwa left an Internet cafe, police said.

It is the fifth such incident since November. In August, two British women volunteering on the island were injured when an assailant threw acid on their faces, and in November, a Muslim leader was hospitalized with acid burns.

Two Christian leaders were killed in Zanzibar earlier this year in separate incidents and there have been arson attacks on churches.

All of the attacks have occurred on the semi-autonomous islands of Tanzania at a time when President Jakaya Kikwete has warned that religious tensions threaten peace in the country of 45 million.

Zanzibar has seen the birth of a separatist group known as Uamsho, or Awakening. Uamsho wants the island to end its 1964 union with mainland Tanzania with the goal of introducing Islamic Sharia law in Zanzibar.