Six killed in Canada mosque gun attack

Desk Report: Six people have reportedly been killed and another eight were injured in a gun attack at a mosque in Québec City of Canada.

Witnesses said the shooting was carried out by three attackers and happened during evening prayers at about 8pm on Sunday.

Christine Coulombe, the Quebec Provincial Police spokeswoman, says some of the wounded were gravely injured. She says the dead were approximately 35 to 70 years of age.

 

Thirty-nine people were in the mosque – the Québec City Islamic cultural center on Sainte-Foy Street – at the time.

 

Two people have been arrested. She says one person was arrested at the scene and the other nearby in d'Orleans.

The mosque’s president, Mohamed Yangui, who was not inside the mosque when the shooting occurred, said he got frantic calls from people at evening prayers.

“Why is this happening here? This is barbaric,” he said.

The city’s police said the site has been secured and all occupants evacuated. A large security cordon has been set up around the site.

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his condolences to those affected by the “cowardly attack”.

Trudeau characterized the shooting as a "terrorist attack on Muslims." Trudeau said in a statement that it is "heart-wrenching to see such senseless violence" and he vowed that Canadian law enforcement "will make every effort to apprehend the perpetrators of this act and all acts of intolerance."

Canada’s publics safety minister, Ralph Goodale, said he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths. The premier of Québec, Philippe Couillard, said the government was taking action to keep people safe.

In June, during the holy month of Ramadan, a pig’s head was left at the mosque, reports say.

 

Agencies

 

risingbd/DHAKA/30 Jan 2017/Saiful/Augustin Sujan