Canada: Gunmen kill 6 in mosque hours after government announced solidarity with Muslim immigrants
No fewer than six people were killed in an attack by gunmen at a mosque in Quebec City, Canada on Sunday night.
Police say shots were fired at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre, where more than 50 people had gathered for evening prayers.
Eight other persons were reportedly wounded in the shooting, which has been deemed a terrorist attack.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement, “We condemn this terrorist attack on Muslims in a centre of worship and refuge.”
“Muslim-Canadians are an important part of our national fabric, and these senseless acts have no place in our communities, cities and country.”
BBC reports that a suspect was arrested at the scene while another was arrested nearby. There are no other suspects on the run, police believe.
Mohamed Yangui, the president of the mosque, said the shooting happened in the men’s section of the mosque.
“Why is this happening here? This is barbaric,” Yangui, who was not inside the mosque at the time of the shooting, said.
The attack comes just hours after the Prime Minister declared the country open to immigrants whom United States President Donald Trump had banned.
“To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada,” Trudeau tweeted early Sunday.
The Mayor of Toronto, John Tory, also echoed Mr Trudeau’s sentiments saying: “We understand that as Canadians we are almost all immigrants, and that no one should be excluded on the basis of their ethnicity or nationality.”
The same Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre experienced an Islamophobic incident in June 2016, when a pig’s head was left in front of the building, accompanied with a card that read “bonne appetit”. Pig meat is forbidden in Islam.
It is unclear whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in solidarity with the stranded immigrants, mostly from Muslim majority nations, prompted the attack on the mosque.
