Islamabad (Web Desk): Prime Minister Imran Khan, expressing grief over the killing of a Pakistani-origin family in Canada, urged the international community to holistically counter Islamophobia.
In a tweet on Tuesday, the premier termed it a "condemnable act of terrorism" saying that the incident revealed growing Islamophobia in Western countries.
"Islamophobia needs to be countered holistically by the international community," he added.
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Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also took to Twitter to condemn the incident, saying three generations of Pakistani-Canadians had been killed for their faith.
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A driver crashed a pickup truck into a Pakistani-origin family of five, killing four of them while injuring the 9-year-old near London in the south of Canada’s Ontario province.
A 20-year-old suspect wearing a vest "like body armor" fled the scene after the attack on Sunday evening, and was arrested at a mall seven kilometers (four miles) from the intersection in London, Ontario where it happened.
According to Canadian police, the family was killed in a hit-and-run incident, adding that they were targeted for being Muslim. The family had immigrated from Pakistan to Canada 14 years ago.
As per the details, the victims were two women aged 77 and 44, a 46-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl. The boy was seriously injured and is recovering in a medical facility however local authorities did not release the names of the victims.
Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Twitter and said that he was horrified by what he described as an act of hatred.
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In a statement released on Twitter, City’s Mayor Ed Holder said flags would be lowered for three days in London, which he said has 30,000 to 40,000 Muslims among its more than 400,000 residents.
“Let me be clear: This was an act of mass murder, perpetrated against Muslims and rooted in unspeakable hatred”, the statement said.
'This act of unspeakable hatred, this act of Islamaphobia, must be followed by acts of compassion, acts of kindness, acts of empathy, acts of solidarity and, above all else, love’, it added.
