Ottawa jihadi seeking ‘martyrdom’ with ISIS in Syria | Ottawa Citizen

2014/08/27 Leave a comment

Profile of an Ottawa man fighting with ISIS in Syria:

Counter-terrorism officials say they are concerned that Canadian fighters who survive the conflicts in Syria and Iraq may return home to spread anti-Western radicalism and conduct terrorist attacks, but Maguire does not seem to want to leave.

“He said he’s not coming back,” his aunt, Allison McPherson, said in the Ontario family’s first public comments about their plight. “My sister doesn’t expect that she will ever see him again, and probably won’t ever see him again alive.”

As a boy, Maguire had a tough time, she said. After his mother left an abusive relationship and then suffered health problems, he was raised partly by his grandparents. “John is a very smart kid,” McPherson said, “but there was always something kind of closed off, and he kept to himself. And, of course, that’s exactly what these people are looking for — a bright guy, kind of a loner, needing a place to fit in.”

According to his online profile, he went to Hillcrest High School and once wanted to be a hockey player or motocross racer. He left home for California for a few months but returned  and enrolled at the University of Ottawa.

During the fall 2012 term, he began musing on Twitter about the brutality of President Bashar Al-Assad, writing, “how can I sleep with what is happening in Syria.” But the friend said Maguire was not an activist and had displayed little interest in issues in the Muslim world.

“Now we’re all just confused. What I’m trying to figure out is how it all began,” he said. Was he swayed by something he found on the Internet? Did someone influence him? Was he upset about events abroad? “I wish I knew what it was, and I wish I could have prevented it.”

As Canadian-born, and presumably not a dual citizenship, he would not be subject to citizenship revocation unlike other extremists not born but raised in Canada.

Ottawa jihadi seeking ‘martyrdom’ with ISIS in Syria | Ottawa Citizen.

Filed under Radicalization, Revocation Tagged with , ,

Farah Mohamed Shirdon of Calgary, fighting for ISIS, dead in Iraq, reports say – Politics – CBC News

2014/08/19 Leave a comment

Hard to feel any sympathy for Shirdon given his actions and rhetoric but we can for family members:

Farah Mohamed Shirdon, a Calgarian fighting overseas with the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, was seen in the video burning his Canadian passport and threatening to destroy Iraq’s oppressors.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says it is aware of reports that a Canadian was killed in Iraq and is following the situation closely.

Farah Mohamed Shirdon of Calgary, fighting for ISIS, dead in Iraq, reports say – Politics – CBC News.

A good profile on Shirdon in The National Post:

Mr. Little said he didn’t recognize his friend in the video.

“It clearly wasn’t him anymore,” he said. When he learned of his death, Mr. Little tweeted: “The guy I knew was already dead inside, it’s still very disheartening to hear the news about my former friend. R.I.P. Farah Shirdon”

….. Mr. Shirdon’s family, including a mother, two brothers and at least one sister, were members of Calgary’s Somali-Canadian community.

Mohamed Jama, the Somali Canadian Society of Calgary president, described the family as “normal.”

“It’s very hard for his family,” he said. “Even the parents have no idea why this young man has [gone] to join this radical group.”

Mr. Jama was unaware Mr. Shirdon had been killed, calling the news “shocking.”

On a Twitter account believed to belong to Mr. Shirdon, a tweet from June read, “Beheading Shias is a beautiful thing.”

The account, under the pseudonym Abu Usamah, had more than 10,000 followers.

Mr. Jama said the Somali community in Calgary didn’t understand why Mr. Shirdon radicalized.

“It’s very hard to believe,” he said. “Especially a young person who grew up in the Western [world] and goes to a place he has no ethnicity, no community, no language.”

Mr. Jama described the actions of ISIS as a “killing phenomena.”

Farah Mohamed Shirdon, Calgary ISIS fighter reportedly killed in Iraq, was ‘dead inside’ long ago, friend says

Filed under Multiculturalism, Radicalization Tagged with , ,

ISIS child recruitment push hints at long-term ambitions – World – CBC News

2014/08/19 Leave a comment

Pretty nasty stuff, but in character of ISIS and its equivalents (and reminiscent of the Kadr family):

HRW [Human Rights Watch] said that children who joined armed groups in Syria did so after enduring torture by the regime, after participating in protests, or because schooling was no longer an option.

But, according to the report, others “simply … had a desire to go to battle.”

“The images of child soldiers I’m most familiar with are out of Africa, where there’s the practice of taking young children and sort of breaking them down psychologically and remoulding them as trained killers said Michael Dartnell, a terrorism expert who teaches political science at Georgian College in Ontario.

“I’m not certain if that’s actually what is going on in Syria and Iraq right now.”

Even so, Dartnell added he wasn’t sure about the capacity for such young minds to make independent ideological choices so early in life.

While Roggio said his monitoring of jihadi social-media feeds brought up images of young ISIS supporters brandishing weapons, marching in extremist parades and hitting posters of perceived infidels with their shoes, “I don’t see them being deployed on the battlefields or into towns” as one might expect a child soldier to do.

Instead, he believes youths are considered by ISIS as being more of a long-term “asset.”

“The children aren’t disposable to them,” he said, adding that their exploitation is a means of survival for the movement.

Becker, with HRW, said that child soldiers have been shown in the past to be used in some of the most dangerous tasks, such as suicide missions.

“It’s deeply concerning,” she said. “All children in Syria are suffering incredibly from the violence there, but to put children directly into battle is just beyond the pale.”

ISIS child recruitment push hints at long-term ambitions – World – CBC News.

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Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians

2014/07/21 Leave a comment

Depressing – and another legacy of the Gulf War of 2003:

In the statement, Isis said Christians who wanted to remain in the “caliphate” declared earlier this month in parts of Iraq and Syria must agree to abide by terms of a “dhimma” contract – a historic practice under which non-Muslims were protected in Muslim lands in return for a special levy known as “jizya”. “We offer them three choices: Islam; the dhimma contract – involving payment of jizya; if they refuse this they will have nothing but the sword,” the announcement said.

….Mosul, once home to diverse faiths, had a Christian population of around 100,000 a decade ago, but waves of attacks on Christians since the 2003 US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein have seen those numbers collapse.

The Mosul residents who saw the Islamic State announcement estimated the city’s Christian population before last months militant takeover at around 5,000. The vast bulk of those have since fled, leaving perhaps only 200 in the city.

Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians | World news | theguardian.com.

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Farah Mohamed Shirdon of Calgary fighting with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

2014/06/20 Leave a comment

The latest homegrown terrorist, Farah Mohamed Shirdon, Somali origin but raised in Calgary  (article does not say whether born here, but clear from his accent that spent most of his time in Canada). And the strong message from within the Muslim community against this:

“Our message to the youth has been crystal clear:  if someone is telling you that you will go to Paradise by blowing yourself up in a plane, a train or a public place taking your life and the lives of innocent people, then he is misleading you and committing a crime against the whole society and against the Islamic religion itself,” said Hacene Chebbani, the IISC’s director of religious affairs, in the news release.

Farah Mohamed Shirdon of Calgary fighting with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – Canada – CBC News.

And on the silly – but dangerous – side:

Radical Islamists’ ideology marks soccer as enemy

Filed under Multiculturalism, Radicalization Tagged with , ,

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