ISLAMABAD: As reports of hate crimes against Muslims fuel tensions in the United States, a video released on Facebook by the US Embassy in Pakistan shows US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale visiting the historic Faisal Mosque in the capital – a visit widely seen as a gesture of solidarity with Muslims.

The tense environment in the US has been bolstered by remarks from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who recently called for banning Muslims from entry to the United States.

But President Obama in an address on Tuesday asked Americans not to depict the fight against terrorism as a war between Islam and America.

“We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam,” he said.

The anti-Muslim sentiment in the US surfaced after the California shooting in which a Muslim couple gunned down 14 people at a San Bernadino gathering.