Mosques have been firebombed in violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims in New Dehli during a week of unrest.

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Residents stand behind a makeshift barrier at the mouth to a lane splattered with bricks following violence in New Delhi, India, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020.  Muslims returned to the battle-torn streets of northeastern New Delhi for weekly prayers at heavily-policed fire-bombed mosques on Friday, two days after a 72-hour clash between Hindus and Muslims that left at least 38 dead and hundreds injured. (AP/Altaf Qadri).

A resident of Mustafabad Rouf Khan, 43, said the mobs were wielding iron rods, bricks and bamboo sticks and attacked the homes of Muslims amid chants of "Jai Shri Ram," or "Victory to Lord Ram," the popular Hindu god of the religious epic 

"Ramayana. After forcing inside the homes, they went on a rampage and started beating people and breaking household items," said Khan, adding that he and his family had to run out of fear and take shelter inside a nearby mosque that he said was guarded by thousands of Muslim men. 

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Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol a vandalized street in Tuesday's violence in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. 

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Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol a street vandalized. India accused a U.S. government commission of politicizing communal violence in New Delhi that killed at least 30 people and injured more than 200 as President Donald Trump was visiting the country. The violent clashes between Hindu and Muslim mobs were the capital's worst communal riots in decades and saw shops, Muslim shrines and public vehicles go up in flames. (AP /Altaf Qadri).

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A Delhi municipal worker stands next to heaps of the remains of vehicles, steel cupboards and other materials on a street vandalized in Tuesday's violence in New Delhi, India. (AP/Altaf Qadri).

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People look at cars that were vandalized during violence in New Delhi, India. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh).

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Border Security Force personnel patrol a street following violence in New Delhi, India, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri).