Canadian resident arrested in alleged N.Y.C. terror plot

Attack planned on Jewish centre, investigators say

- KARON LIU

A Pakistani citizen living in Canada has been arrested in an alleged Islamic State terror plot involving a mass shooting at a Jewish centre in New York City, the RCMP and the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was arrested in the town of Ormstown, Que. this past Wednesday after driving from Toronto en route to New York. Khan is to appear in the Superior Court of Justice in Montreal on Sept. 13, according to a news release from the RCMP.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Khan had attempted to travel from Canada, where he lives, to New York City with the “stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible.” The planned shooting was apparently to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

The U.S. government has charged Khan with attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and alSham (ISIS). He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years inprison if convicted.