Five people died after gunmen opened fire at the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Center on Sunday night during evening prayers. About 40 people were inside the mosque at the time of the attack at 9.15 p.m. (0215 UTC). "There are many victims ... there are deaths," a Quebec police spokesman told reporters.

Quebec City police spokesman Constable Pierre Poirier said two suspects had been arrested. Police spokesman Etienne Doyon declined to say if there was a gunman inside the mosque.

A heavily armed tactical squad was seen entering the building and police later reported the premises had been secured and all occupants evacuated. Police put up a security perimeter around the center.

The mosque's president, Mohamed Yangui, who was not inside the building at the time of the attack, said he did not know how many people had been wounded. The injured had been taken to different hospitals across the city.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted "Tonight, Canadians grieve for those killed in a cowardly attack on a mosque in Quebec City. My thoughts are with victims & their families."

Quebec's prime minister, Philippe Couillard, said via Twitter that the government was "mobilized to ensure the security of the people of Quebec."

"Quebec categorically rejects this barbarous violence," he wrote. "Solidarity with Quebec people of Muslim faith."

It is not the first attack on a mosque in Canada. In 2013 police investigated after a mosque in the Saguenay region of Quebec was splattered with pig's blood. In 2015, a mosque was set on fire in the neighboring province of Ontario. Last year, a pig's head was left on the doorstep of the mosque where Sunday's attack took place.

(The article was first published on DW. You can read the original article here.)