A morning commute interrupted by an explosion and shattered glass. The doldrums of the evening rush hour punctuated by screams of agony.
It has become an all-too-familiar scene in the past decade as passenger trains in countries like Spain, India, Russia and the United Kingdom have become targets of terrorists.
Canada could have joined their ranks, if investigators hadn’t foiled an alleged, al-Qaeda-supported plot to attack a Via Rail passenger train, arresting Raed Jaser of Toronto and Chiheb Esseghaier of Montreal on Monday.
Read: Raed Jaser and Chiheb Esseghaier: Two suspects, two paths in Canada, one alleged terror plot
Details outlining the plot remained scant even as the suspects made separate court appearances to face terrorism-related charges in Toronto and Montreal on Tuesday, but several American media sources have reported the attack would have targeted a train travelling between Toronto’s Union Station and New York City, crossing the border at Niagara Falls, Ont. American broadcaster CNN added the attack would have happened in Canada, possibly on a trestle.
What is clear is that such a scheme would take careful planning, precise timing and an intimate knowledge of the rail system.
“To have a train derail – you need to have technical knowledge – you need a specific bomb and it needs to be placed in a specific way,” said former CSIS agent Michel Juneau-Katsuya.
The alleged suspects would have had no shortages of past examples from which to learn.
Russia, Spain, India and the United Kingdom have all faced attacks over the past decade, with striking similarities when it comes to target and timing – passenger or commuter trains during rush hours.
Forty people were killed during Moscow’s morning rush hour in 2010 by two suicide bombers on the metro system. Two female Islamic terrorists were accused by authorities of having carried out the act.
In India, a series of bombs exploded on Mumbai’s Suburban Railway in 2006, killing 209 and injuring 700. The bombs were set off in pressure cookers and detonated over 11 minutes during the evening rush-hour – an act linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of the world’s largest Jihad factions.
Back in July 2005, four suspected members of al-Qaeda launched an attack on the London Underground and one double-decker bus, killing 56 people and injuring 700, during the morning rush hour.
A year earlier in Spain, a terrorist cell with loose links to al-Qaeda bombed a commuter train in Madrid during rush hour, killing 191 people.
It is not yet publicly known where, when and who would have been targeted by an attack on Canadian soil – details that may be revealed in future court appearances.
How the two suspects would have come up with the plot is simply speculation, but University of Ottawa terrorism expert Wesley Wark called the target “puzzling.”
“Not a lot of Canadians to be honest know much about rail travel, ride the rails or travel on trains. It’s not really in our consciousness. It’s of diminished symbolic value but an easy target,” he said.
For in-depth coverage of the Train Terror Plot, click here.
The other detail of the plot that police have publicly revealed is that it is the first assisted by al-Qaeda in Canada, with the suspects getting “direction and guidance” from terrorist elements in Iran.
What exactly that means may remain a mystery because the government may not need or want to introduce it in court, according to Wark, who said “guidance” could mean many things.
“Here’s how to build a bomb. Here’s how to do reconnaissance. Here’s how to target. Here’s how to be security conscious,” he said, adding that the advice would depend on the extent of the links.
Watch: Terrorism in Canada
While Iran is a new element in the puzzle, al-Qaeda has been known to provide extensive instructions and support for would-be terrorists through the Internet and other publications.
Read more: Terrorist organizations use variety of techniques to communicate with overseas cohorts
A magazine called Inspire, allegedly linked to the terrorist group, glorified individual jihad and gave instructions about how to torch parked vehicles and cause road accidents in its most recent edition.
The online magazine also encourages “open source jihad,” defined as a resource manual that includes “bomb-making techniques, guerilla tactics, weapons training and all other jihad related activities.”
Another article explains why lone jihad is advantageous to the cause, explaining that its impact is great and its means are easy and plentiful, suggesting targets like hotels, commercial buildings, wooden residence and forests.
The Canadian plot was foiled by police in cooperation with Canadian and American intelligence agencies after a prominent Muslim community leader in Toronto tipped off the RCMP. The police are not ruling out that there may be more suspects and more arrests.
You can get more of Global’s up-to-the-minute coverage of the VIA Rail terror plot by clicking here.
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