A Canadian man banned from associating with Islamic State extremists has been killed as Canada’s national police force said it thwarted what was believed to be a suicide bomb plot.
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A tip from American authorities Wednesday is what led to the takedown of a Canadian ISIS supporter who planned a suicide-bombing-type attack in a public area the same day, police say.
Driver was killed in a violent confrontation with police on Wednesday near his home in Strathroy, Ontario.
The Canadian authorities alleged that Driver espoused support for ISIL on social media, where police said he was also known by the alias Harun Abdurahman.
Driver, 24, died on Wednesday after he detonated an explosive device in the back seat of a taxi as police closed in and opened fire, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in Ottawa.
11 a.m., August 10, 2016 – Canadian investigators decide that the man in the video is likely Aaron Driver, and send officers to his house.
Several hours later, with police amassing outside Driver’s house and the afternoon rush hour ramping up, a taxi unexpectedly arrived.
“It was a race against time”, RCMP deputy commissioner Mike Cabana told a news conference in Ottawa.
He said there needs to be stronger partnerships with the religious community, public safety and police services so that the “Aaron Drivers of the world, instead of being deceased potential terrorists, [are] changed, reformed, positive contributors to Canadian society”.
In the back of the taxi was an explosive device Driver allegedly meant to detonate in peak-hour traffic.
A Canadian man who had pledged allegiance to the ISIS group in a video was shot dead in a taxi after setting off an explosive device, police said Thursday.
His estranged father, Wayne Driver, told news outlets he was saddened by his son’s death but not surprised.
“I want to commend the RCMP, CSIS, local police and law enforcement agencies for their exceptional work in taking the appropriate measures in keeping Canadians safe and I want to thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their assistance”.
Aaron Driver had exited his home in Strathroy, Ontario. and was in the cab when he apparently made a decision to trigger the bomb.
Following these attacks, the Conservative government passed a bill giving the RCMP and Canada’s spy agency sweeping powers to thwart terror plots and prevent Canadian youth from flying overseas to join the Islamic State group in Syria.
The official identified the suspect as Aaron Driver, a man in his mid-20s originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
A convert to Islam, Driver’s views had apparently become increasingly radical after he began following the war in Syria online.
Driver was known to police as an IS supporter, and was arrested in June previous year, but released on a peace bond.
CBC quotes people who lived near Driver complaining that they weren’t told he was a terrorism suspect. “I can say he was probably one of the best clients I ever had”.
Police said at the news conference that Driver had not been under constant surveillance, but had been monitored.
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Mubin Shaikh, a former undercover operative with CSIS and now a Canadian counter-terrorism and national security consultant, said law enforcement officers walk a fine line in determining which Islamic State sympathisers are just talkers, and which represent an actual threat to Canada.
