Police have recovered three tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in the raids. Commissioner McDonell noted that this amount was three times the amount used by Timothy McVeigh to destroy the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
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Media reports vary on alleged targets. The Globe and Mail says the CSIS headquarters may have been one while swissinfo names a 'tourist site in Toronto' as another possibility.
It is believed that the group's ideology is one 'inspired by' al Qaeda, according to CSIS's assistant director of operations who also said they apparently do not have a direct link to Osama bin Laden.
Police have charged 12 men, aged between 19 and 43, and five youngsters under the age of 18, with terrorism-related offences. Officials said they had trained together in a camp in Canada.
"They're all residents of Canada and for the most part, they're all citizens." McDonell said. "They represent the broad strata of our community. Some are students, some are employed, some are unemployed."
The Toronto Star has in depth coverage.
This tidbit is interesting:
The group arrested yesterday allegedly had a list of targets, sources have told the Star, and the Toronto headquarters of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service was one of them.
So were the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa and a smattering of other high-profile, heavily populated areas. But since most of the suspects lived in the GTA, it was the potential threat to the spy service's office and the chaos an attack would create in the heart of Toronto that concerned CSIS most.
Attack on the Parliament buildings? Not such a big deal compared to an attack on the CSIS offices. CSIS to terrorists: you can take out the government, but don't even think about obliterating our offices.
And if you thought the US congress was going to go easy on passport requirements for Canadians to cross the probably soon-to-be-fenced border, think again.
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