Canadians have been warned to be on their guard after a video surfaced online in which Muslims were being urged to carry out lone wolf attacks in Canada. 

It follows two such attacks in recent months, one near Montreal in which a Canadian soldier was killed, and another in Ottawa, which also resulted in the death of a soldier.

Canada's public safety minister Steven Blaney urged the country be vigilant after the release of the video online, apparently featuring a man believed to be a Canadian fighting for the Islamic State.  

The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity online, said the Islamic State released the video from the Canadian fighter identified as "Abu Anwar al-Canadi".

The National Post newspaper identified the man, who spoke in clear English, as John Maguire, a Muslim convert from the Ottawa area. It said he is believed to have traveled to Syria to join Islamic State fighters.

In the video, the man urges Canadian Muslims follow the example of Martin Rouleau, a Muslim convert who on October 20 rammed two Canadian soldiers with a car near Montreal, killing one, before being killed by police.

The video also refers to a separate attack in Ottawa on October 22, when a gunman shot dead a soldier guarding a national war memorial and stormed the country's Parliament building. That attacker was also shot dead by security services.

The attacks happened as Canada's military was stepping up its involvement in air strikes against Islamic Statemilitants in Iraq. In September, another Islamic State recording had urged supporters to attack citizens of countries that have joined the coalition to destroy the group.

"Terrorism remains a real and serious threat to Canadians, which is why we must remain vigilant," Canadian Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said in a statement in response to the video.

"That is why we are taking part in the coalition that is currently conducting air strikes."

Source: Reuters