A FOURTH person has been arrested in Canada in an alleged terror plot linked to a group fighting Western forces in Afghanistan.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it executed a search warrant in Ottawa and arrested one unidentified individual “as part of our standard operating procedures in the course of the search”.
No charges have been filed against the suspect.
Two men were arrested on Wednesday in police raids on their suburban Ottawa homes and charged under Canada’s anti-terrorism act with conspiring with people in Iran, Afghanistan, Dubai and Pakistan. They were also charged with possessing explosive substances and making property or financial services available to a terrorist group.
A third Canadian national was arrested the next day in London, Ontario, and was charged with terrorism-related offences during a brief court appearance, prosecutors said.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police superintendent Serge Therriault told reporters on Thursday the accused “are part of a domestic terrorist group operating in Canada”.
One of the accused is believed to be “a member of, and remains in contact with, a terrorist group with links to the conflict in Afghanistan,” he said.
Police said the accused were in possession of a horde of material for making improvised explosive devices, including schematics, videos, drawings, instructions, books and electrical components.
During raids on the homes of the suspects, authorities said they also seized more than 50 electronic circuit boards that could be used in remote detonators.
This “large amount of terrorist documentation and manuals” demonstrates that the suspects “intended to construct an explosive device or explosive devices for terrorist purposes.” said Mr Therriault.
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