Canadian attackers followed new al Qaeda playbook

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The ABC7 I-Team reports on the widening jihadist threat after the stunning assault on Canada's capital city.

For several years federal law enforcement officials have warned of the danger from so-called "lone wolf" terrorists - radicalized Islamists who are self-taught or have only loose connections with foreign terror groups.

Police believe there were two such lone wolf attacks in Canada this week, and more troubling is that both deadly incidents seem to come right from a new al Qaeda playbook.

A day after dozens of shots were fired inside parliament, we now know that the Canada attacker was this man: Joseph Paul Michael Abdallah Bulasem Zehaf Bibeau. The 32-year-old may have had dual citizenship in Canada and Libya, according to authorities, and wanted to join ISIS fighters in Syria, according to his mother.

In a separate incident, a similar attacker struck on Monday in Quebec, Canada. Martin Couture-Rouleau, who on his Facebook page goes by Ahmad the Converted, rammed his car into two members of the Canadian military, killing one of them. After a high speed chase, the 25-year-old radicalized Canadian was shot and killed by police.

Authorities say both attackers in Canada were following instructions in this new al Qaeda pocketbook, a step-by-step guide on "how to become a successful lone mujahid." Wednesday's gun attack followed the instructions on how to "shoot like a pro"; other parts of the playbook teach "causing road accidents" and "torching parked vehicles."

Monday's vehicle attack directly resembles this chapter: the ultimate mowing machine that prescribes running people down. The I-Team uncovered this tactic four years ago---originally published in al Qaeda's Inspire magazine against a backdrop of the Chicago skyline-- as terrorists encouraged one-man jihad.

This week's Canadian attackers may also have planned to follow the footsteps of Andre Poulin, who left Canada two years ago to fight with Muslim radicals in Syria.

"It's not like I was some social outcast. It wasn't like I was some anarchist or somebody who just wants to destroy the world and kill everybody. No, I was a regular person," said Poulin.

Poulin himself was killed last year while fighting with Syrian militants. Now ISIS is using his story to recruit replacements, and ISIS leaders are not hiding their encouragement for lone wolf attacks.

Exactly a month ago a spokesman for the Islamic State told sympathizers that if they can't get a bomb or a gun, go after a single American with a rock or a knife; choke him or poison him or run him over with your car.