RCMP make arrest in 2010 bombing of CF recruitment centre

A member of the police bomb squad combs through debris following an overnight bombing at a Canadian Forces recruiting centre Friday, July 2, 2010 in Trois-Rivieres, Que. (Paul Chiasson / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

MONTREAL -- A man has been arrested in connection with the bombing of a Canadian Forces recruitment centre in Quebec in 2010, the RCMP said Wednesday.

RCMP Cpl. Luc Thibault said four locations that were searched were linked to the Trois-Rivieres bombing, which resulted in material damage but no injuries.

The Mounties seized evidence while conducting raids in Montreal and other Quebec towns as well as at a college in Sainte-Therese, north of Montreal.

Two of the searches were carried out on Monday when investigators targeted an apartment in Saguenay, about 250 kilometres north of Quebec City, and a residence in Saint-Hubert, south of Montreal.

"One man was arrested on Tuesday in the Laurentian region and released after questioning, so charges could be laid against him," Thibault said.

On Wednesday, they checked out the student union office of the College Lionel-Groulx and another apartment in the Montreal area.

Thibault said information obtained during the investigation led to a group called Initiative de resistance internationaliste.

The group claimed responsibility for the Trois-Rivieres attack as well as another that targeted a Hydro-Quebec tower in the Eastern Townships in December 2004.

It also said it was behind the August 2006 explosion of a car that belonged to a spokesman for the Canadian Institute of Petroleum Products.

"The investigation is still going on and there could be other search warrants and there could be other arrests," Thibault added.

The searches are part of a major investigation that was launched in July 2010 by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.

The INSET team is composed of several partners, including the RCMP, Quebec provincial police and Montreal police.

Its aim is to curtail all forms of threat against the security of infrastructures in Quebec and Canada.