Edmonton in Canada was the scene of a terror attack in which an Islamic State group flag was found inside a car believed to have been involved in the incident. The attacker came in the car, rammed into the police officer and later knifed him. The incident happened outside a football stadium where a match was in progress, and the attacker tried to flee but was chased and taken into custody.
Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht said the suspect is a 30-year-old man from the city and appears to have acted alone. This would make it a lone-wolf attack and the presence of an IS flag in the car points to links with the terror outfit.
Details of the attack
Boston Herald reports that a game of a Canadian Football League was in progress at Commonwealth Stadium when a vehicle came and rammed a traffic control barricade. The force of the impact flung a police officer into the air after which the driver got out of the car and attacked the officer with a knife. Then he fled the scene on foot but was chased down and taken into custody.
Subsequently, a van was stopped at a checkpoint, and the name of the driver appeared to be similar to the name of the registered owner of the car that hit the officer. This raised doubts in the mind of the police and the driver sensed trouble. He tried to escape but the police gave chase, and the vehicle swerved at pedestrians to leave four of them with injuries.
It finally overturned, and the man was arrested.
According to Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht, both the incidents are interlinked and are under investigation as acts of terrorism. He has advised the public to remain vigilant and be observant of their surroundings. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, has also labeled these as a terror attack.
Terror attacks can happen anywhere
The incident in Edmonton shows that terrorists can strike anywhere and use improvised weapons to carry out terror attacks, injure innocent people and terrorize the masses. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there is no place for violent extremism in Canada. In the Edmonton incident, a police officer suffered a knife attack while a wayward vehicle injured four bystanders who were in its path.
Terrorism is a global phenomenon, and the intention of those who commit such crimes is to incite fear. A spokesman for the Public Safety Department has indicated that the national terrorism threat level for Canada has not changed since 2014 and remains at "medium." This level was assigned after the attack on the Parliament in Ottawa. In that attack, a gunman killed a soldier at the national war memorial and was, in turn, shot dead inside Parliament.
