Canada Raises ‘Terrorism’ Alert after Soldier Killed

Wednesday, 22 October 2014

Canada Raises ‘Terrorism’ Alert after Soldier Killed

Source

Canada raised its national "terrorism" alert on Tuesday, officials said, after a soldier run over by a suspected jihadist died in hospital.

The alert level was raised from low to medium after authorities said a man they believed to be "radicalized" struck two officers with his car Monday, but authorities said the heightened alert was not "the result of a specific threat."

"This level means that intelligence has indicated that an individual or group within Canada or abroad has the intent and capability to commit an act of terrorism," Jean-Christophe de Le Rue, a spokesman for the Public Safety Ministry said.

The assailant in Monday's attack was identified as 25-year-old Martin Couture-Rouleau, who was briefly detained at a Canadian airport last July when he sought to fly to Turkey, federal police said.

Police did not have enough evidence to charge him with seeking to join a terrorist group abroad and released him.

Couture-Rouleau was fatally shot by police after he struck two soldiers with his car in a Quebec parking lot -- a scenario which had been depicted only last month in ISIL propaganda.
At a press conference, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said the deliberate attack was "clearly linked to terrorist ideology."

"I am horrified by what took place here," he said. "This is a terrible act of violence against our country, against our military, against our values."

The attack took place as Canadian warplanes headed to bomb the so-called Islamic State militants in Iraq.

Defense Minister Rob Nicholson said the soldier's death "in a senseless act such as this only strengthens our resolve" to take on militant groups.