Canadian police on Monday said that ten people had been killed and at least 15 others injured in two remote communities in Saskatchewan.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have launched a manhunt for two suspects in one of the nation's deadliest incidents of mass violence.

What we know so far

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore told a news conference that officers had found 10 people dead in 13 locations in the community of James Smith Cree Nation and the nearby town of Weldon, in Canada's Saskatchewan province.

 "It is horrific what has occurred in our province today," she said. "We are actively looking for the two suspects."

Blackmore said it was still to early to glean the attacker's motive, because "some of the victims were targeted by the suspects and others were attacked randomly."

"To speak to a motive would be extremely difficult at this point in time," she said.

Blackmore said at least 15 other people had been transported to hospital.

Shock of small communities

The James Smith First Nation is an indigenous community with about 3,400 inhabitants mainly engaged in agriculture, hunting and fishing. Weldon is a village with about 200 inhabitants.

The community declared a local state of emergency, while many Saskatchewan residents were urged to seek shelter locally.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the mass stabbing "horrific and heartbreaking." "I'm thinking of those who have lost a loved one and of those who were injured," he tweeted. 

What are police doing?

Police launched a manhunt for two suspects. They named Damien S. and Myles S. as the two suspects and said the pair were driving a black Nissan Rogue.

Multiple checkpoints have been set up on highways and roads across the region as "maximum" police resources have been deployed to search for the suspects, Blackmore said.

Police bulletins urged to report any suspicious people and to take precautions like staying at home. An advisory also warned against picking up hitchhikers or approaching suspicious people.

Following reported sightings of the suspects in Regina, the provincial capital more than 300 kilometers (185 miles) south, the alert and search has been extended to neighboring provinces of Manitoba and Alberta.

Canada's history of mass killing incidents

The country's worst mass killing in modern times occurred in Nova Scotia in April 2020, when a gunman who disguised himself as a police officer killed at least 16 people during a 12-hour rampage.

In January 2017, a man opened fire during evening prayers at a Quebec City mosque, killing six people and injuring five. In December 2014, a man in Edmonton killed eight people, including his wife, before killing himself.

In December 1989, a gunman killed 14 students, all female, and wounded 13 at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal before committing suicide.

dh/kb (AFP, Reuters)