BRAMPTON, Ont. — An alleged terror cell hoped video of them wriggling on their stomachs through deep snow and firing a paintball gun at a picture of a Hindu deity would win the support of jihadi leaders in Afghanistan, court heard Tuesday.
At the trial of three men on terrorism charges as part of the so-called Toronto 18, the Crown alleges Fahim Ahmad was the leader of a terrorist group plotting to attack Parliament, electrical grids and nuclear stations.
The group held two training camps, the jury was told, at which Ahmad hoped to gauge the suitability of his recruits to participate in the attacks. The first one was held in Washago, Ont., about 90 minutes north of Toronto, in December 2005, the Crown said.
In the midst of the attendees at the camp was police informant Mubin Shaikh.
Testifying as the first witness, Shaikh said Ahmad trusted him and gave him the position of firearms trainer at the camp since he had a firearm licence and some weapons training.
One of the camp’s leaders videotaped much of the training and told Shaikh it was “to show other people we’re serious,” he said.
“(It) was being done for the purposes of advertising the training that had been done — to sort of ingratiate ourselves not only to potential recruits but also supporters within the Muslim community,” Shaikh said.
Shaikh was told the camp leaders wanted to send the tape to jihadi leaders in Afghanistan in the hopes that they “would in turn send us people, highly trained people, to help us further advance our operational capability.”
Ahmad, 25, Asad Ansari, 25, and Steven Chand, 29, are charged with participating in a terrorist group. Ahmad is also charged with instructing people to carry out activities for a terrorist group and a weapons offence. Chand also faces a charge of counselling to commit fraud over $5,000 for the benefit of a terrorist group.
Shaikh described the camp as one at which attendees were made to go on long marches, put through obstacle courses and firearms training and listened to fiery jihadi speeches. The jury also heard about the more mundane aspects to the two weeks the young men and boys spent in Washago, such as frequent trips to Tim Hortons and plaintive phone calls with Ahmad’s wife.
One young participant was mocked by the others when he showed up to the camp — at which the Crown alleges people trained to attack Canadian targets — wearing a red toque with the word Canada on it, Shaikh said.
Although Shaikh was a police informant he led the firearms training, but said he stressed safety, especially since one participant almost shot another by accident. He was concerned for their well-being, he said, especially the young kids. Some were as young as 14 and stole chocolate bars, a shovel and thermal underwear because of their misguided understanding of a text about stealing from non-believers, Shaikh said.
During the obstacle course participants would balance on a log, “judo roll” under a log, leapfrog over tree stumps, lie down on a toboggan in the snow and shoot at targets affixed to a tree — either with a 9mm handgun or a paintball gun — climb up a tree, jump down, then run along a wall of dirt as the trainers simulated live fire, Shaikh said.
At one point a picture of a Hindu deity was affixed to a tree as a shooting target by a young participant who had converted from Hinduism to Islam and wanted to prove his loyalty, Shaikh said. Another participant later set the picture on fire, which “even Fahim didn’t think that was appropriate,” he said.
Shaikh kept a close eye on the one real gun that was at the camp, he said, and participants mostly used paintball guns for their war games, he said.
“At the camp paintball was once again in the context of simulating combat, but with a jihadi flavour,” he said. “It was simulating combat, but it was Muslim combatants against the infidels.”