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The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced on Wednesday they have detained an individual after information had been received of a potential terror attack in Canada.

It was later reported that the suspect was killed in the anti-terrorism operation in southwestern Ontario.

Heavily armed police, including snipers and RCMP officers in tactical gear, surrounded a home in Strathroy, in an investigation reports said is linked to what the RCMP described as “credible information of a potential terrorist threat.”

Reports said the suspect, who wasn’t identified by authorities, planned to use an IED in a public area in a major Canadian city to create mass casualties.

CTV News identified him as Aaron Driver, 23. He was reportedly sympathetic to the Islamic State (ISIS) group.

"Earlier today, the RCMP received credible information of a potential terrorist threat," the RCMP had said in a statement quoted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

"A suspect was identified and the proper course of action has been taken to ensure that there is no danger to the public's safety," it added.

"As this is still an unfolding matter and that the investigation is still underway, we are not able to provide further comment at this time," the RCMP said.

RCMP were deployed to a neighborhood of Strathroy, Ontario, on Wednesday evening. CBC News could not immediately confirm if the RCMP presence in the city was connected to the report of a potential terror threat.

The RCMP said they "take all such threats seriously" and encouraged Canadians to "remain alert and to immediately report any suspicious or unusual behavior to their local police.

Canada has been targeted by terrorism before. In March, a Muslim man stabbed soldiers at a Toronto military recruitment center in March, and later claimed under interrogation that “Allah” told him to carry out the attack.

In October of 2014, a terrorist shot and killed a soldier near the Canadian parliament in Ottawa.

That attack came a week after a 25-year-old who converted to Islam rammed his car into two soldiers in the Quebec town of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and was shot dead by police. One of the soldiers later died.