Integrated Threat Assessment Centre (ITAC)
www.itac-ciem.gc.ca
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Terrorism in Canada
Successful terrorist incidents have been carried out in Canada, the most notable being the 1985 Air India bombing. A timeline of terrorist incidents in Canada is provided below.
| Year | Details of Incident |
|---|---|
| 1999 | Ahmed Ressam was arrested by US Customs officials while carrying timing devices and 130 pounds of explosives from Victoria, BC to Port Angeles, Washington. Charged with offences including transporting explosives and possessing unregistered firearms, Ressam confessed to membership in a Montreal group plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport. In July 2005, Ressam was sentenced in the US to 22 years in prison. |
| 1991 | US border officials arrested three American members of the militant Muslim group Jamaat ul-Fuqra. They were carrying an attack plan, a list of bomb components, and surveillance notes about a theatre and a Hindu temple in the Toronto area. Sentenced to 12 years in prison, they were released in April 2006 and deported. The Jamaat ul-Fuqra maintains a compound near Combermere, Ontario. |
| 1985 | A suitcase bomb was loaded on a plane in Vancouver, then transferred to Air India Flight 182 in Toronto. The plane crashed while en route to India, killing 329 passengers, including 279 Canadians. A second bomb, loaded on a Canadian Pacific flight from Vancouver to Bombay, killed two and injured four at Tokyo’s Narita Airport. Inderjit Singh Reyat was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the bombings; two other suspects were acquitted. |
| 1985 | The Turkish Embassy in Ottawa was taken over by three members of the Armenian Revolutionary Army (AMA). Thirteen hostages were taken including the Ambassador’s wife and two children. The Ambassador was injured while escaping from the second storey window of the embassy. A security guard was seriously injured during the takeover and subsequently died from his wounds. |
| 1982 | Members of Direct Action detonated a van packed with dynamite outside Litton Industries' Toronto plant, which manufactured parts for the guidance systems of US Cruise missiles. Ten people were injured; damage was estimated at $3.87 million. Direct Action issued communiques emphasizing their anti-nuclear position. Three members of the group were convicted. |
| 1982 | Colonel Attila Altikat, the Turkish military attaché, was killed by an assassin who fired thirteen 9-millimetre bullets into him while his car was stopped at a red light in Ottawa. The gunman escaped on foot and no suspect has been identified to date. The Justice Commandos for the Armenian Genocide (JCAG) claimed responsibility. |
