IS sympathiser shot dead in Canada

Aaron Driver, 24, was killed on Thursday after a tip to Canadian authorities from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who had intercepted the video, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) told a press conference. RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mike Cabana said that on Thursday they had received information from the FBI, including a martyr video that had been prepared by an individual who at that time was unknown to us but who was clearly in the final stages of preparing an attack using homemade bombs. 

Police and counter-terrorism experts quickly identified the man in the video as Driver. The RCMP said they intercepted Driver outside the home where he lived with his sister, at about 4.30 pm local time on Thursday. He had just gotten into the back seat of a taxi that had just arrived. When police approached, Driver detonated an explosive device in the back seat of the cab, causing minor injuries to the driver, before he was shot dead by officers, authorities said. 

“If he had gotten out of that residence before we got there the scenario would have ended differently, I’m confident of that,” commented RCMP commander Jennifer Strachan.

One of three schoolgirls who left London in February of 2015 to join Islamic State has died, her family lawyer told the media. Attorney Tasnime Akunjee said the family of Kadiza Sultana learned of her death in Raqqa a few weeks ago. According to media reports, she was believed to have been killed in an air strike in Syria.

Police arrested two people suspected of supporting Islamic State in planning a possible attack during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Police had arrested 12 people before Thursday’s operation, all suspected of collaboration with Islamic State militants. Brazil’s federal police said three others have been interrogated and later released. The two arrested on Thursday were Brazilians, but police did not provide names or other details.