Thread by @AJEnglish

THREAD ⬇️

48 bullets in two minutes.

In 2017, a gunman killed six people at a Quebec City mosque. Five years on, the attack still haunts survivors and Canada’s Muslim community.

🔗: aje.io/ddj4jk

Outside the mosque, black stone plinths stand in a memorial to those killed:

🕯️ Azzeddine Soufiane
🕯️ Aboubaker Thabti
🕯️ Khaled Belkacemi
🕯️ Abdelkrim Hassane
🕯️ Ibrahima Barry
🕯️ Mamadou Tanou Barry

🔗: aje.io/ddj4jk

For Khadija Thabti, whose husband Aboubaker was among those fatally shot, January has become the toughest month of the year.

🔗: aje.io/ddj4jk

Survivor Hakim Chambaz saved the life of a young girl who was inside the mosque when the shooting broke out, shielding her behind a pillar.

He says Islamophobia fuelled the attack - and fighting such hatred is key to preventing future tragedies.

🔗: aje.io/ddj4jk

In 2018, the gunman was sentenced to life imprisonment without the chance of parole for 40 years, but his sentence was reduced in 2020.

Aymen Derbali, who was shot seven times during the attack, says he struggles to understand the sentencing decisions aje.io/ddj4jk

"Going to the mosque, that's something essential - and this act is not going to stop us."

Five years on, Ibrahim Sbai, another attack survivor, says the sense of community has only become stronger in the aftermath of the violence ⤵️ aje.io/ddj4jk