Six killed in shooting at a Quebec mosque in Canada

FP Staff • January 30, 2017, 15:16:04 IST

Six people were killed and eight more injured after gunmen opened fire at a Quebec City mosque, police said Monday.

Police officers are seen near a mosque after a shooting in Quebec City, 29 January, 2017. Five people were killed after gunmen opened fire in a Quebec City mosque, the mosque’s president told reporters. A witness told Reuters that up to three gunmen fired on about 40 people inside the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre. Reuters

The shooting at a Quebec mosque during Sunday night prays which reportedly killed five people was a “terrorist attack on Muslims”, said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “We condemn this terrorist attack on Muslims in a centre of worship and refuge,” Trudeau said in a statement. Reuters

Quebec’s prime minister, Philippe Couillard, said in a series of Twitter posts that the government was “mobilized to ensure the security of the people of Quebec.” Reuters

The Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec, which is also known as the grand mosque of Quebec, had already been the target of hate: a pig’s head was left on the doorstep last June during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Reuters