A CHILD HAS been arrested in Canada and charged with two terror-related offences after a joint inquiry with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, police said on Friday.

The child, whose identity is protected under Canadian law, was charged with knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity and counseling a person to deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive device with intent to cause death or serious bodily injury.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police also arrested a second suspect, an adult male, on Thursday night in the city of Kingston in Ontario province, which borders the United States, but has not been charged.

The RCMP specified that no terror act was committed.

The Canadian police led the probe with the FBI, provincial and local police as well as Canada’s Security Intelligence Service.

Public broadcaster CBC named the adult arrested but not charged as 20-year-old Hussam Eddin Alzahabi, and reported that he was believed to be of Syrian descent.

Alzahabi’s parents arrived in Canada as refugees in 2017, after living in Kuwait for nearly a decade.

“They tell me they search about him about terrorists. I know my son, he didn’t think about that,” Alzahabi’s father Amin told the CBC.

“Earlier today, RCMP and partners took action in Kingston, based on credible information, to ensure public safety,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said on Twitter.

“Canada’s threat level remains at medium, where it has stood since 2014.”

The RCMP and Goodale were to give a press conference later Friday on the investigation.

- © AFP 2019