2 killed in Canada parliament attack

Canadian authorities say a soldier and a gunman have been killed after armed assailants stormed the country’s parliament in the capital city of Ottawa.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the gunman was killed by police after being chased into the main parliament building in the capital on Wednesday.

According to the RCMP, numerous gunmen were involved in separate shootings in the capital, including Parliament Hill and a nearby shopping mall.

Witnesses said over 20 shots were fired inside the parliament building and at least three people have been taken to hospital for treatment.

The slain soldier was shot by an armed man while standing guard at the National War Memorial on Parliament Hill. 

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was in the parliament at the time, was safely evacuated, and the entire building has been placed under lockdown.

The shooting comes just two days after a radicalized Quebec man, identified as Martin Couture-Rouleau, was shot dead by police after he ran down two soldiers, killing one of them, with his vehicle near a military compound.

Meanwhile, the Canadian government has raised its terrorism threat level from low to medium.

Jean-Christophe de La Rue, a government spokesman said in an email that the level was raised due to an increase “in general chatter” about terrorist groups.

According to government figures, there are more than 130 Canadians who have travelled overseas and are “suspected of terrorism-related activities.”

CAH/HMV/SS