Canada arrests two brothers on terrorism charges

People writing messages on a Canadian flag on Oct 24, 2014, at a makeshift memorial in honour of soldier Nathan Cirillo, who was killed during a shooting at the Canada War Memorial in Ottawa on Oct 22. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
People writing messages on a Canadian flag on Oct 24, 2014, at a makeshift memorial in honour of soldier Nathan Cirillo, who was killed during a shooting at the Canada War Memorial in Ottawa on Oct 22. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

OTTAWA - Canadian police arrested two brothers on terrorism-related charges on Friday, less than three months after the country suffered two Islamist-related attacks - one of them on the nation's parliament.

Ashton Carleton Larmond and Carlos Larmond were charged with counts related to terrorist activities, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.

They are both listed as 24 years old and appear to be twins.

Carlos was apprehended at Montreal's international airport just before departing to "travel overseas for terrorist purposes", the police said. Ashton was charged with "facilitating terrorist activity" and participating in a terrorist group.

"Today's arrests speak to our ability to tackle a threat that is multifaceted and constantly evolving," said Canadian police official James Malizia.

Police called on Canadians to be vigilant, but did not provide details of the alleged terrorist activity.

In October, two soldiers were killed in separate attacks in Canada. In one, a soldier was fatally shot while standing watch at the War Memorial in Ottawa. His attacker, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, then stormed into parliament and exchanged fire with police before being shot dead.

In the other attack, 25-year-old Martin Couture-Rouleau, who had been on a watch-list of suspected extremists, ran over two soldiers in a parking lot, killing one of them before being shot dead by police.

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