Toronto police disrupted ISIS-linked plot targeting Jewish women

A Toronto man already on probation has been arrested and slapped with terrorism charges after allegedly funding ISIS and offering to carry out terror attacks on Canadian soil.

L to R, Fahad Sadaat, Waleed Khan, Osman Azizov

A Toronto man already on probation has been arrested and slapped with terrorism charges after allegedly funding ISIS and offering to carry out terror attacks on Canadian soil targeting Jewish Canadians and women.

An RCMP news release on Friday announced that the federal police’s Central Region’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) arrested 26-year-old Waleed Khan in connection with an “ongoing investigation into terrorism-related offences.”

Police allege that between June 17 and August 17 of this year, Khan “directly or indirectly” provided property, which could include digital assets like social media accounts, to fund ISIS, knowing the funds would “in whole or in part” be used by or benefit the Islamist terrorist group.

The release further alleges Khan provided property specifically to be used to carry out terrorist activity or benefit any person facilitating or carrying out terrorist activity. It also claims that “in response to instructions” by a terrorist group, he made himself “available” to facilitate or commit a terrorism offence outside of Canada.

RCMP also alleges that Khan conspired to commit murder “for the benefit of or at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group,” and conspired with people “known and unknown” to commit murder.

“This arrest represents the culmination of a significant investigation by the RCMP and its partners to disrupt threats to National Security and preserve public safety,” Superintendent James Parr, the officer in charge of the investigation, said in the news release.

A Toronto Police Service (TPS) news release that went out Friday noted that Khan and two others were arrested and faced 79 charges as part of “Project Neapolitan,” related to two violent attempted kidnappings in Mississauga and Toronto.

During a joint press conference between the TPS, Peel Regional Police (PRP), and the RCMP, Peel Police Chief Nishan Duraippah said that a search of Khan’s home in Etobicoke uncovered evidence of additional hate-motivated offences targeting Jewish people and women, national security concerns, and prohibited firearms.

Police found two loaded prohibited firearms: an AR-style rifle capable of automatic fire and a pistol, both equipped with prohibited high-capacity magazines, along with over 110 rounds of ammunition. A PRP report noted that Khan was “on probation for prior violent offences and prohibited from possessing firearms.”

Noah Shack, the CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), said the Jewish community was grateful to law enforcement for uncovering the “grave threat” involving the Islamic State and its attempts to target women and Jewish Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

“It is alarming that multiple Islamic State-related terrorist plots have been uncovered over the past two years in Canada. This goes far beyond the safety of any one group,” Shack said in a statement. “It is a matter of national security and public safety. There is a ticking time bomb in our country that our leaders must confront before it’s too late.”

He noted that the timing of the announcement, which came just five days after an Islamist terrorist attack in Sydney, Australia, that killed at least 15 at a menorah lighting Hannukkah event at Bondi Beach, should serve as a warning to Canada.

“As we saw in Sydney, we are one intelligence failure away from a devastating loss of life. A lack of urgency on the part of our leaders puts Canadians in danger,” Shack said. “We urge authorities to take decisive measures to hold extremists accountable for radicalizing Canadians and setting the stage for mass violence right here in our country.”