Thousands attend funeral for Quebec mosque shooting victims

'We have chosen this society, and we ask that this society choose us and welcome us,' says imam

Ilies Soufiane, fifteen year old son of victim Azzeddine Soufiane, is consoled during a ceremony for three of the six victims of the Quebec City mosque shooting (AP)

Thousands of people have attended the funeral of three men killed in a shooting at a mosque in Quebec City last Sunday.

Imam Hassan Guillet opened the service by denouncing the “poisoned words” he said permeated Quebec’s social discourse, turning people against Muslims.

"Our mosques will remain open, and our children will continue to learn and recite the Koran," the imam told mourners, CBC reported.

"Our children will continue to be honourable citizens in this country, as you were.

"We have chosen this society, and we ask that this society choose us and welcome us."

Each of the two funerals drew thousands of mourners, Thursday, 2 February 2017 (AP)

Azzeddine Soufiane, a 57-year-old grocer; Mamadou Tanou Barry, a 42-year-old cosmetics company technician; and 39-year-old Ibrahima Barry, who worked in health insurance, were among the six men who died when a shooter opened fire at a mosque in Québec City — an act condemned as a “terrorist attack” by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

On Thursday a service was held for the three other victims who died in the attack: Abdelkrim Hassane, 41; Khaled Belkacemi, 60; and Aboubaker Thabti, 44, a pharmacy worker.

The bodies of the victims remembered in Thursday’s service will be sent to their native countries of Tunisia and Algeria.

Another 19 were wounded, of whom two were in a critical condition on Friday.

Meanwhile hundreds on Friday gathered to form “human shields” around Canadian mosques — in a demonstration of defiance against the persecution of Muslims.

Yet there were reports that a mosque close to the funeral had been vandalised, an act described by one local politician as an act of “terrorism”.

Police said they were investigating the incident as a hate crime and said they had noticed an increase in reports of such offences following the mosque shooting.

A 27-year-old university student Alexandre Bissonnette has been charged with six counts of first degree murder, and another nine counts of attempted murder after the shooting.

He has been described as a far-right sympathiser, who is against immigration and pro-Donald Trump.

Mr Trudeau, who spoke on Thursday's service, said Canada would "rise from [the] darkness stronger", following the massacre.

“It is with a heavy heart that we come together this afternoon to grieve the loss of these innocent lives," he told the crowds.

"But as a community and as a country, together we will rise from this darkness stronger and more unified than ever before — that is who we are."

* This article originally contained a reference to the Quebec attack taking place in Montreal; in fact it took place in Quebec City, as stated later in the report. Updated 9/2/17