RCMP say a father and son facing terrorism related charges were allegedly in the advanced stages of planning a serious, violent attack in Toronto.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Police in Toronto say they have arrested a father and son on terrorism charges after investigators uncovered a plan to carry out a violent attack in the city in support of the Islamic State.
Authorities released no details about who was targeted, other than to say that the intended terror attacks involved a machete and an axe and that they were thwarted before they could be directed against people in Canada’s largest city.
“I want to emphasize there is no evidence to suggest that there is any remaining risk to the public,” said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Matt Peggs at a Newmarket, Ont., news conference on Wednesday.
Police said the older suspect arrested in the case also faces a newly laid Canadian charge alleging that back in 2015, he seriously assaulted someone in a foreign country on behalf of the Islamic State.
Police said the two accused were arrested on Sunday in a hotel in Richmond Hill, Ont.,” while in the advanced stages of planning a serious, violent attack in Toronto.” Police say they learned about the plot in early July.
While police are not disclosing details of the men’s backgrounds, neighbours of the two suspects in east Toronto described them as part of an Egyptian family who had arrived in Canada at some point within the past three years.
Court documents say the two accused live at a house with an East Toronto address. Neighbours of that residence said Wednesday that a police tactical team arrived on the scene late Sunday with a drone and a dog. Police used flash grenades as they broke down a door and took some residents away for questioning.
Neighbour Neill Rampersad said he witnessed the police raid from his house across the street and that police carried it out in a highly co-ordinated professional manner.
He said he had limited dealings with the family, consisting of two parents and two adult brothers.
“They said they were from Egypt.”
Mr. Rampersad said police had attended the residence to speak to family members several times in the past.
During Wednesday’s news conference, police from the RCMP’s federal policing wing announced the arrests flanked by commanders from several Greater Toronto Area municipal forces who assisted the probe. Investigators said the two men were Canadian citizens.
The RCMP said the terror plot may have been hours away from being carried out when the arrests were made, but it is still trying to determine who the targets of the plot were.
The Islamic State has been a designated terrorist group in Canada since 2012. The group came to prominence a decade ago, as its members carved a self-styled caliphate out of Syria and Iraq while urging overseas followers to launch attacks on people living in the West. A years-long U.S-led military campaign deprived the group of the territory it once held, but security experts warn that its ability to launch and inspire attacks has never disappeared.
Ahmed Eldidi, 62, and Mostafa Eldidi, 26, face a series of charges including participating in a terrorist group, facilitating terrorist activity, conspiring to commit murder, and dangerous weapons offences.
The charge documents say the elder Mr. Eldidi faces an aggravated-assault charge for a 2015 attack that occurred outside of Canada. The documents do not specify precisely where it happened but it is alleged that the assault was done “for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with” the Islamic State. No details were released by authorities about this charge, nor how the Crown intends to prove in a Canadian court what took place nine years ago in another country.
Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act was crafted by Parliament in 2001 so that Crown prosecutors could put suspects on trial in this country for alleged crimes that took place anywhere in the world. Such charges, however, still have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt to garner convictions.
With reports from Tom Cardoso and Stephanie Chambers
Videos provided to The Globe from home security cameras show a police operation in connection with Ahmed and Mostafa Eldidi, who were arrested on terrorism charges.
The Globe and Mail