Al-Qaida urges ‘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 al-Qaida 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,” said Jason Tamming, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney.
Police were already on alert following the deadly attack in Sydney, Australia, and the killings of Canadian Forces members in Ottawa and Saint-Jeansur-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.
At least a half-dozen Canadians in Islamic State have been killed over the past two months, mostly in airstrikes, including John Maguire, a former University of Ottawa student who threatened Canadians in a recent video.