Canadian authorities rounded up seventeen suspected terrorists in a series of raids overnight, and have unraveled a plot to attack multiple targets in the Toronto area:

Media reports Saturday alleged that the suspects engaged in terror training camps north of Toronto. It was further alleged that a group were plotting to attack targets in Toronto including the headquarters of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. ...

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service aided the RCMP and officers from Toronto, Peel and Durham in detaining the suspects, described by an undercover officer involved in the operation as “terrorists, the ones who hate the West.”

The ethnicity of the group was not clear. A well- placed police source said they are Muslims, but not Arabs, and unconnected to anti-terrorism raids that occurred simultaneously in Britain yesterday.

Quoting anonymous sources, CBC said the targets of the raid are suspected of connections with al-Qaeda. A Canadian Press report said the arrests stemmed from a plot involving explosives.

While the intended target is unclear, the plan was to detonate an explosive device in Ontario, a source who asked not to be named told Canadian Press. “That's the tool of choice for anybody who wants to cause damage.”

Stephen Taylor is live-blogging the press conference now. They confiscated three tons of ammonium nitrate -- the same fertilizer ingredient that Timothy McVeigh used in the Oklahoma City bombing, only three times as much. Of the seventeen, 12 have been publicly identified, while five are apparently underage. The identified suspects are:

1. Fahim Ahmad, 21, of Robinstone Drive, Toronto, Ontario;
2. Zakaria Amara, 20, of Periwinkle Crescent, Mississauga, Ontario;
3. Asad Ansari, 21, of Rosehurst Drive, Mississauga, Ontario;
4. Shareef Abdelhaleen, 30, of Lowville Heights, Mississauga, Ontario;
5. Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, of Montevideo Road, Mississauga, Ontario;
6. Mohammed Dirie, 22, Kingston, Ontario;
7. Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24, Kingston, Ontario;
8. Jahmaal James, 23, of Trudelle Street, Toronto, Ontario;
9. Amin Mohamed Durrani, 19, of Stonehill Court, Toronto, Ontario;
10. Steven Vikash Chand alias Abdul Shakur, 25, of Treverton Drive, Toronto, Ontario;
11. Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, 21, of Robin Drive, Mississauga, Ontario;
12. Saad Khalid, 19, of Eclipse Avenue, Mississauga, Ontario.

Canadian authorities have had this group under surveillance since 2004. They do not appear to be foreigners but instead are "homegrown" Islamist terrorists. As the National Post notes today, presciently, the homegrown jihadists appear to be the next wave of terrorists:

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service acknowledged this week it has been investigating groups of "homegrown" extremists. In candid testimony to the Senate national security committee, the agency went on to say that these young followers of the "al-Qaeda ideology" have been plotting against targets within Canada.

"They are not looking to Afghanistan, the U.K. or anywhere else," Jack Hooper, the CSIS Deputy Director of Operations, testified on Monday.

The exact targets of these young terrorists were not revealed, but it is their profile that is most shocking: young Canadian Muslims who have somehow become radicalized while growing up in Canada.

Europe faces a similar situation, and now the question will be whether the US has something brewing in its mosques as well. We have already uncovered the Lodi mosque and the father-son jihadi team there. Canada has similar cultural flexibility as the US; to think that this could metastasize there but not here would be foolish indeed.

Keep an eye on Stephen Taylor's blog for further updates, and I'm certain Steve Janke will also be all over this.

UPDATE: As will Kate at Small Dead Animals. Confederate Yankee wonders whether a 'domestic spying" effort helped root these terrorists out. It certainly seems plausible, although no one knows at the moment how the Canadians sniffed this one out.

UPDATE II: John Stephenson at Stop The ACLU says that the Canadians used Internet monitoring to identify these terrorists. I'm posting on this separately.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Canada Discovers Terrorist Plot:

» Terror Suspects Arrested from bRight & Early
... [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 11:03 AM

» BREAKING: 'Major Terror Plot' Foiled In Toronto from The Political Pit Bull
Via CNN: Canadian police on Saturday said they have prevented a major al Qaeda-inspired terror plot to attack targets in southern Ontario. Twelve adults and five young people were arrested, authorities said. "This group took steps to acquire three tons... [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 11:04 AM

» Canadians arrest Terror suspects from Max Conservative
Canadians arrest Terror suspects [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 11:06 AM

» Canada Bust Terrorists In Toronto from Stop The ACLU
Via AP Seventeen Canadian residents were in custody Saturday on terrorism- related charges, including plots to use explosives in attacks on Canadian soil, authorities said. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they arrested 12 male adults and fiv... [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 11:15 AM

» Canada Disrupts Terror Cell...Disaster Averted? from A Blog For All
A terrorist training camp in Canada was raided, and a total of 17 people were arrested. They're homegrown jihadis, and who knows what kind of mayhem they were looking to spring on an unsuspecting Canadian population? [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 11:31 AM

» Canada Bust Terrorists In Toronto from Stop The ACLU
The investigation began back in 2004, when CSIS was monitoring Internet sites and tracing the paths of Canadians believed to have ties to international terrorist organizations. Local youths espousing fundamentalist views drew special attention, sourc... [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 11:46 AM

» Major Arrests in Canada in Terrorism Investigation from Assorted Babble by Suzie
UPDATE: 17 Total: An updated News Conference is planned for this morning. Suspected terrorists, 12 men were arrested in Canada yesterday and are in custody now. The reports are they were planning terror attacks including using explosives in their plo... [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 11:48 AM

» From Canada To The UK from Flopping Aces
We know understand how the Canadian terrorists were discovered. But how about the British terrorists? Could this operations have anything to do with the arrest last week of Ahmed al-Batawi?: ... [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 1:11 PM

» Canada Thwarts Terrorists from The Sandbox
From the AP:Seventeen Canadian residents were in custody Saturday on terrorism- related charges, including plots to use explosives in attacks on Canadian soil, authorities said. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they arrested 12 male adults and fi... [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 3:09 PM

» Terror cell in Canada busted from Right Truth
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police busted a terror cell in the Toronto area of Canada, seizing chemicals used to make explosives and weapons. (Hat Tip to Bud's Broadcast Network) The new Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has expressed his [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 4:42 PM

» Terror cell in Canada busted from Right Truth
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police busted a terror cell in the Toronto area of Canada, seizing chemicals used to make explosives and weapons. (Hat Tip to Bud's Broadcast Network) The new Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has expressed his [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 8:26 PM

» Terror cell in Canada busted from Right Truth
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police busted a terror cell in the Toronto area of Canada, seizing chemicals used to make explosives and weapons. (Hat Tip to Bud's Broadcast Network) The new Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has expressed his [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 9:13 PM

» Terror cell in Canada busted from Right Truth
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police busted a terror cell in the Toronto area of Canada, seizing chemicals used to make explosives and weapons. (Hat Tip to Bud's Broadcast Network) The new Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has expressed his [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 9:22 PM

» We Have Miles to go Before we Sleep from Blue Star Chronicles
I've been spinning my wheels a little lately. Okay a lot. The Haditha story just flew all over me. The liberals/progressives, the MSM, the islamic masses have been having a feeding frenzy at the expense of our Soldiers and our nation. [Read More]

Tracked on June 4, 2006 7:30 PM