17 arrested in alleged Canada terror plot

Veiled supporters of some of the suspects in a terrorist plot leave the courthouse in the Toronto suburb of Brampton following their first court appearance on Saturday. Twelve men and five youths arrested overnight face charges for plotting al-Qaeda-inspired "terrorist attacks" in Ontario, Canada's economic hub, officials said. PHOTO: AFP

Those arrested late Friday and early Saturday in the Toronto area, across Lake Ontario from the US state of New York, "were planning to commit a series of terrorist attacks against solely Canadian targets in southern Ontario," said Mike McDonnell, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The group acquired three tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a common fertiliser ingredient, and "components necessary to create explosive devices," he said.

The amount is three times what was used in the 1995 bombing of a US federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that killed 168 people.