Mysterious powder deliveries are making a comeback 13 years after the anthrax attacks terrorized the U.S. postal service.
Four consulates in Istanbul worked quickly to decontaminate their facilities after receiving packets of an unidentified yellow powder on Oct. 24, according to Reuters. The Canadian, U.S., Belgian and German consulates all received the suspicious substance, raising security concerns both at home and abroad.
One Canadian consulate employee made direct contact with the powder-contained package, and six others made indirect contact, Turkey's disaster management agency AFAD said in a statement . Nine people entered the hospital as a precaution.
Decontamination teams cleaned each of the consulates. The AFAD sent the powder to labs in the Turkish capital of Ankara for identification.
"(It) was dealt with according to security protocols. The consulate is operating normally," a U.S. Embassy spokesman told Reuters. Other consulates and embassies have begun to review their security plans for a similar situation.
Canada's overseas consulates and embassies went on high alert this week after two militant attacks occurred in the country. Both attacks were carried out by recent converts to Islam.
Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, a 32-year-old Canadian citizen, fatally shot a soldier at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Oct. 22. He then entered a parliament building where security guards opened fire and killed Zehaf-Bebiau.
No substantiated claims linked the shooter to the Islamic State, causing chaos in the Middle East, Foreign Minister John Baird told the BBC. More than 100 Canadians have headed to Syria and Islam to fight with the terrorist organization.
Baird was "tremendously concerned about the number of Canadians who are radicalized and are fighting in Syria or Iraq, but we don't have any evidence to link the two at this stage,"
Another man, 25-year-old Martin Rouleau drove over two Canadian soldiers in Quebec on Oct. 20. One soldier died and security officers shot and killed Rouleau.
