Al-Qaida calls for ‘lone wolf’ attacks on Canada
Security officials are monitoring the latest terrorist threat made against Canada, this one by the same senior al-Qaida official who last week claimed responsibility for the shooting attack at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris.
In a video distributed online Tuesday, Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi, a leader of the Yemen-based alQaida in the Arabian Peninsula, turned his sights on Canada in an attempt to provoke “lone wolf ” terrorist attacks in the country.
He named Canada as one of the “Western countries that fight Islam” and participate in a “Crusader campaign.” The video comes as al-Qaida is competing with Islamic State for leadership of the global violent jihadist movement.
“Canada’s security agencies are closely monitoring this situation and have measures in place to address these types of threats,” Jason Tamming, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, said in response to the alQaida in the Arabian Peninsula video.
Police were already on alert following the deadly attack in Sydney, Australia, and the killings of Canadian Forces members in Ottawa and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., by lone attackers claiming to be motivated by Islamist extremist beliefs.
The RCMP cautioned members on Jan. 10 to “exercise a heightened level of caution and vigilance” after a pro-Islamic State video featuring footage of the Oct. 22 attack on Parliament Hill urged the killing of Canadian civilians, police and military.
Similar advisories have been circulated in other Western countries, which are anticipating violence both from extremists returning from terrorist havens like Syria and Yemen, and those who have stayed at home but are inspired by the same ideology.
The senior al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula official mentioned Canada while answering a question about whether those living “under the rule of the disbelievers” should immigrate to Muslim countries or “practise in an effective role in our place here.”
“There is no doubt that immigration is better than living under the rule of the disbelievers, but one should take into consideration the matter of affliction,” Ali al-Ansi said. “Meaning, is it more afflicting for an individual to wage individual jihad in a Western country in which he resides than immigrating for jihad to fight on one of the front lines?
“If he is capable to wage individual jihad in the Western countries that fight Islam, such as America, Britain, France, Canada and others of the countries that represent the head of disbelief in waging war against Islam, and participate in this Crusader campaign — if he is capable of that then that is better and more harmful.”
In his previous video last Wednesday, Ali al-Ansi claimed responsibility for the Paris attack, saying al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula had chosen the target, planned the operation and financed it to avenge Charlie Hebdo cartoons that he said had insulted the Muslim prophet Muhammad.