Terrorism Arrests Made In Canada, Australia: Twins Ashton Carleton Larmond, Carlos Larmond Arrested In Ottawa, Montreal

Canadian authorities arrested twin brothers on terrorism charges while Australian officials announced the arrests of two men following counter-terrorism raids in Sydney, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Agence France-Presse. News of the arrests came as French authorities on Friday killed the two brothers suspected of killing 10 journalists and two police officers in the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a Paris-based satirical magazine.

Ashton Carleton Larmond and Carlos Larmond, both 24, were charged in Ottawa on terrorism-related offenses, according to a RCMP press release. Ashton Carleton Larmond, who was arrested in Ottawa, was charged with facilitating terrorist activity, participation in the activity of a terrorist group and instructing to carry out activity for a terrorist group. Carlos Larmond, who was apprehended at Montreal’s Pierre-Elliott Trudeau International Airport while allegedly trying to travel overseas for “terrorist purposes,” was charged with participation in the activity of a terrorist group and attempting to leave Canada to participate in terrorist activity abroad.

“Today’s arrests speak to our ability to tackle a threat that is multifaceted and constantly evolving,” said James Malizia, an assistant commissioner with the RCMP and the officer in charge of the police’s federal policing operations. “Through collaborative efforts with our partners, we were able to prevent these individuals from leaving Canada to engage in terrorist activity overseas.”

Meanwhile, two men were arrested following counter-terrorism raids in Sydney on Saturday, according to AFP. One man was handcuffed after raids were carried out in southwest Sydney on Friday as “part of a long-running investigation and not as a result of any specific terrorism threat,” officers said. The investigation was looking into people who bankroll Islamic extremists in Syria and Iraq. The circumstances of the second man’s arrest were unclear.

Sydney is where Man Haron Monis, a sympathizer of the Islamic State group, took 17 people hostages inside a cafe last month. Two hostages died in the incident.

Canada was also the scene of a recent terrorist attack after gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau fatally shot a soldier guarding a war memorial outside Canadian parliament in Ottawa in October. Zehaf-Bibeau was a convert to Islam who held radical views, according to RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson.