Islamophobes Terror Attacks: Several People Dead And Many Injured In Mosque Shooting In Quebec City, Canada

Swat team police officer walk around a mosque after a shooting in Quebec City – photo credit to Telegraph UK

Gunmen fired on about 50 people inside the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre on Sunday at 8pm local time (01:00 GMT).

Police confirmed several people "were killed" and "several injured" in the shooting but did not initially specify how many, Canada’s prime minister denounced as a “terrorist attack”.

The shooting was carried out by three people at the Québec City Islamic cultural center, witnesses said, and happened during evening prayers on Sunday. Police received the first calls just before 8pm.

Two arrests have been made, a police spokesman said. Local newspaper Le Soleil said police accepted a third suspect could still be on the run, though spokeswoman Chistine Coulombe later said: “Nothing right now makes us believe that there would be other suspects related to this event.”

One of the suspects was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and one was aged 27, Le Soleil reported.

Trudeau spoke of his anger after hearing the news: “We condemn this terrorist attack on Muslims in a centre of worship and refuge.

“While authorities are still investigating and details continue to be confirmed, it is heart-wrenching to see such senseless violence. Diversity is our strength, and religious tolerance is a value that we, as Canadians, hold dear.”

At a media conference, police said the victims were aged between 35 and 70.

At the time of the attack, more than 50 people were thought to be in the two-storey building, also called the Grande Mosque de Québec, which is equipped with several CCTV cameras.

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. He said the injured were taken to different hospitals across Quebec City. “Why is this happening here? This is barbaric,” he said.

The city’s police said the site had been secured and all occupants evacuated. A large security cordon has been set up around the site. Witnesses reported seeing heavily armed police entering the mosque after the shooting.

'A terrorist attack on Muslims'

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the shooting as a "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," he said in a statement.

The shooting came on the weekend that Trudeau said Canada would welcome refugees, after US President Donald Trump suspended the US refugee programme and temporarily barred citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the country.

The premier of Québec, Philippe Couillard, called the killings a “terrorist act” and said the government stood in solidarity with the city’s Muslim population. he tweeted: “#Québec rejects categorically this barbaric violence. All our solidarity to the families of the victims, the injured and their families.”

“Quebec is mourning,” the mayor of Quebec, Régis Labeaume, said, looking shaken. “I want to express my revolt to this villainous crime.”

Canada’s publics safety minister, Ralph Goodale, said he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths.

Local politician Manon Massé said: “We know little at the moment, but one or two people have assumed the right to kill our fellow Muslim Québec citizens. When intolerance goes from debate to murder, solidarity is essential.”

 Police officers stand guard near a mosque after a shooting in Québec City on Sunday.

The mosque has been targeted before. In June, during the holy month of Ramadan, a pig’s head was left there. Weeks later, an Islamophobic letter was distributed in the vicinity.

But Yangui told the Edmonton Journal the mosque had not received any threats recently. “We have a very good relationship with the neighbours, with the community,” he said. “There’s mutual respect – and now today we have this dramatic event.”

By A.L. Idris for Resolving Path (RP)

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