PARAMARIBO, Suriname, Dec 29, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A man stabbed to death nine people, including five children, overnight in Suriname's capital Paramaribo, police said Sunday, adding that the suspect was wounded and arrested.

The man appeared to be suffering from mental health issues, and four of his own children were killed in the attack, which took place in and around his home, according to local media reports in the small South American nation.

The suspect had an argument with his wife over the phone before stabbing one of the victims, his 11-year-old daughter, 44 times in the kitchen of their home, local media reported.

"A man killed four adults and five children with a sharp object at a residence in Hadji Iding Soemitaweg," the local police said in a statement.

"A sixth child and an adult were seriously injured and were transported" to the hospital, according to the statement.

Officers who arrived on the scene had to open fire on the suspect, as "he attacked police with a sharp object," the statement said.

The man was shot in the leg and hospitalized under police supervision, officials said without identifying him.

"Further details regarding the true circumstances of this tragic attack will follow," the statement concluded.

According to the local press, which visited the scene of the attack and spoke to the man's neighbors, the suspect had mental health issues.

Suriname's President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons responded to the killings on her Facebook page.

"At a time when family and friends should stand together and support one another, we are faced with the harsh reality that there is another side to the world," she wrote.

"A father who takes the lives of his own children and, in the process, kills his neighbors as well. I wish all those in mourning much strength, courage, and comfort in this unimaginably difficult time."

In a separate statement, the Office of the President said the government would provide professional assistance to the victims' relatives and cover funeral expenses.

"This tragedy affects us as a nation at a time when we have celebrated Christmas together and are preparing to usher in the new year -- a time that should be marked by solidarity and hope," it said.

Dick Schoof, the prime minister of the Netherlands who visited the former Dutch colony in November, had "personally expressed" his sympathy to the Surinamese people over the horrific knife attack, the president's office added.