THE Muslim World League (MWL) has condemned the recent killing of four members of a Muslim family in a “premeditated” vehicle attack in the city of London, Ontario province.
In a statement, MWL Secretary General, Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Issa, said the wicked attack was the result of spread of hate and racism, Anadolu Agency reported.
The statement also called for standing up against hate that threatens security and peace in the world.
Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, labeled the incident as a “terrorist attack.”
Trudeau spoke in the House of Commons on Tuesday, calling the attack “a brutal, cowardly, and brazen act of violence.”
The Prime Minister said: “This was no accident. This was a terrorist attack, motivated by hatred, in the heart of one of our communities.
“They were all targeted because of their Muslim faith. This is happening here, in Canada. And it has to stop.”
On Sunday evening, a driver plowed a pickup truck into the family of five, killing four of them and seriously injuring the other in an attack that targeted the victims because they were Muslims.
Police said the dead were a 74-year-old woman, a 46-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman, and a 15-year-old girl. A nine-year-old boy was injured and was reportedly in a serious condition.
The victims were said to be of Pakistan origin living in Canada.
Trudeau also turned much of his attention to the nine-year-old boy who survived the attack.
“We all hope the little boy can recover from his injuries quickly, even though we know he will live a long time with the sadness, incomprehension and anger caused by this cowardly Islamophobic attack,” the premier said.
The leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) Jagmeet Singh, for his part, also addressed the assault, saying “our Canada is a place where Muslims are not safe.”
“To think that a family going for a walk couldn’t make it home; to think that a casual walk around the block in our neighborhood would be one’s last; to think you can’t walk safely down your own street. To Muslim Canadians, I’m so sorry you have to live like this, that you have to live in fear,” he said.
He added that the threat to Muslim Canadians’ safety stemmed from extreme right-wing ideology, online hate and politicians’ use of Islamophobia for political gain.
Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, Bill Blair, earlier described the incident as a “horrific act of Islamophobia.”
“They believe the family was targeted because of their faith, and that the attacker was motivated by his hatred of Muslims,” he said.
The Muslim Association of Canada has called on authorities to “prosecute this horrific attack as an act of hate and terrorism.”
The suspect, identified as Nathaniel Veltman, was arrested at a mall seven kilometers from the intersection where the attack happened.
The episode brought back painful memories of a Quebec City mosque mass shooting in January 2017, a driving rampage in Toronto that killed 10 people in April 2018, among others.
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