PhOtOs-Canada Terror-Mystery Tunnel Found Near BIG Sports Stadium
Terror Fears as Sophisticated Mystery Tunnel is Found Yards from Toronto Stadium
-That Hosts Canada's Biggest Sporting Events
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...52_964x400.jpg A sophisticated tunnel has been discovered near a major sporting venue and a university in Toronto, reports said Monday, with Canada on edge over the threat of possible extremist attacks. A municipal worker was walking through woods near York University and the Rexall Center last month when he spotted a piece of corrugated metal on the ground, lifted it up and found a passageway, the public broadcaster CBC said. The tunnel was about seven meters (23 feet) long and 2.5 meters tall and was lit by an electric generator. The walls and ceilings had been reinforced and tools had been left inside. Scroll Down for Video http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4794919920.jpg Concern: This sophisticated tunnel (pictured) was discovered near York University and the Rexall Centre (pictured) in Toronto, Canada, one of the venues for July's Pan American Games, reports said on Monday http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4794928981.jpg Entrance: The tunnel was about seven meters (23 feet) long and 2.5 meters tall and was lit by an electric generator. The walls and ceilings had been reinforced. Above, a ladder is pictured leading to the tunnel http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4799440958.jpg Sophisticated: Although national security officials have been alerted to the tunnel, there was no immediate suggestion that it posed a threat to the Rexall Centre, it is reported. Above, another shot of the tunnel http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4767559288.jpg Venue: A municipal worker was walking through woods near York University and the Rexall Centre (pictured) last month when he spotted a piece of corrugated metal on the ground, lifted it up and found the passageway Toronto is hosting the Pan American Games in July and the Rexall Centre is one of the venues. The facility is also used for major tennis events. In August, it will host the Rogers Cup women's contest. The competition, presented by National Bank, is an ATP World Tour 1000 tennis tournament. It is one rung below Grand Slam contests, including Wimbledon and the US Open. This year, it will feature some of the world's best women's tennis players, including Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova, Eugenie Bouchard, Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Although national security officials have been alerted to the tunnel, there was no immediate suggestion that it posed a threat to the Rexall Centre http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4798076384.jpg Mystery: This photo shows a section of the tunnel, which was discovered by the municipal worker last month http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4798165890.jpg Evidence: Toronto is hosting the Pan American Games in July and the Rexall Centre is one of the venues. The facility is also used for major tennis events. Above, police photos showing the sophisiticated tunnel's interior http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4798169496.jpg Press conference: Toronto's Deputy Police Chief Mark Saunders speaks to the media about the tunnel, which was found near York University and the Rexall Centre in Toronto, during a press conference on Tuesday http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4768054880.jpg Location: This graphic shows the location of the tunnel in related to the Rexall Centre in Toronto, Canada Authorities have now filled it in the passageway, but police were tight-lipped about what its purpose might have been. CBC said authorities had ruled out the possibility of it being a drug lab. Canadian authorities are currently on alert following two Islamist-influenced attacks last year that resulted in the deaths of two unarmed soldiers in Ottawa and Montreal. Officials are also aware that some Canadian Islamists have traveled to Syria to join Isis. This year Canadian-based open source intelligence research group iBRABO tracked a female jihadist from Canada to Isis strongholds in Syria using the 'geo-tagging' function in her cell phone and her Twitter posts. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4798318834.jpg Terror fears: Chief Saunders speaks to the media about the uncovered tunnel , which has since been filled in http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4799791164.jpg Exhibiting the evidence: Authorities have now filled it in the passageway, but police were tight-lipped about what its purpose might have been. CBC said authorities had ruled out the possibility of it being a drug lab http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4798388491.jpg Winner: In August, the Rexall Centre will host the Rogers Cup, which will feature some of the world's best tennis players, including Serena Williams (pictured after winning the tournament at the facility in August 2013) Ray Boisvert on mystery tunnel found near Pan Am Games venue; http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...92_636x358.jpg A recent video by the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgent group has also raised tensions. In it a masked man threatened Canada's massive West Edmonton Mall, along with a mall in the United States and a major shopping district in Britain. Shebab carried out a bloody attack and takeover of a mall in Nairobi in September 2013 that killed at least 67 people. In a video distributed on Twitter Saturday, the group ran a documentary-style account of the Kenya attack. It was followed by an appearance by a masked fighter who suggested similar attacks could be carried out on other malls in the United States, Canada, Britain and France. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4798489878.jpg Games: Team USA enters the stadium during the Opening Ceremony for the XVI Pan American Games at Omnilife Stadium in 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Toronto is hosting the Pan American Games in July 'If just a handful of mujahideen fighters could bring Kenya to a complete stand-still for nearly a week, just imagine what the dedicated mujahideen could do in the West to American or Jewish shopping centers across the world,' the militant said. 'What if such an attack were to occur in the Mall of America in Minnesota? Or the West Edmonton Mall in Canada? Or in London's Oxford Street?' he said. The video was picked up by SITE, a group that monitors jihadist websites. The Mall of America, located in Minnesota and reputedly the country's largest with 40 million visitors a year, said it had taken extra security measures in response to the threat by the Shebab, a Somalia-based insurgent group. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...4766829686.jpg The Mall of America (pictured), located in Minnesota and reputedly the country's largest with 40 million visitors a year, said it had taken extra security measures in response to the threat by the Shebab 'Enhanced security measures to include additional personnel have been implemented and all information is being monitored,' said the police department for Bloomington, the Minneapolis-St Paul suburb where the shopping center is located. 'At this time, there is no credible threat associated with Mall of America,' it said, adding that the facility was a 'very safe place'. Johnson said the threat was indicative of a new type of homegrown threat and requires careful tracking of people suspected of supporting militant groups. The Rogers Cup is played on hard courts and will be held from 8 to 16 August . Ray Boisvert on Mystery Tunnel Found Near Pan Am Games Venue |
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