ISIS-inspired terrorists planned attacks in Canada: report
Posted October 9, 2014 12:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA (NEWS1130) – An NBC News report says Canadian authorities have heard would-be terrorists discussing potential ISIS-inspired “knife and gun” attacks against Canadian and US targets in Canada.
The report quotes unidentified US intelligence officials.
NBC says the targets were in public places and crowded streets.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson said the force has about 63 active security investigations on 90 suspected extremists who intend to join fights abroad or who have returned to Canada.
But Paulson told the Commons public safety committee “it’s nothing that I think that Canadians need to be alarmed about.”
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, however, told the committee these individuals pose a threat to Canadian security at home.
Simon Fraser University Professor Andre Gerolymatos says he isn’t surprised, saying we are at war with a powerful terrorist group. He believes future attacks will be sporadic and won’t be anything massive like 9/11.
“The attitude and the policy of ISIS is not really high tech sabotage or terrorism, their position has always been to use low tech, you know someone like that going to a mall, shooting and stabbing people.”
“It’s different. It’s terrorism of course, but it’s terrorism diffused, low tech, a bunch of guys going to a mall and killing a handful of people and or going to another public place and hurting people. Al-Qaeda preferred the big spectacular terrorist act, a mega explosion. ISIS is much smarter because it can inspire their followers or their potential followers by simply saying do something small for the cause, go and kill somebody, go and cut somebody’s head off,'” he says.
Although he’s not surprised by the reported incident,Gerolymatos doesn’t think we should panic.
“I know the Canadian authorities would prefer that we no panic… you know there’s not going to be a terrorist in every mall; there’s not going to be a terrorist in every movie theatre. It’s going to be very sporadic. We should not be surprised that it’s happening,” he says.
Meanwhile, an Australian jet fighter has made the country’s first airstrike against an Islamic State target in Iraq since the Australian government committed its air force to combat missions last week.
An Australian Defence Force statement said “two bombs were dropped from an F/A-18F Super Hornet on to an ISIL facility” overnight.
Defence did not say what type of facility had been attacked or where in northern Iraq it was.
Australia has six Super Hornets based in the United Arab Emirates.
Defence Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin said the Australian Super Hornets had flown several missions over northern Iraq without firing their weapons.
