Calgarian joins extremist fighters overseas

With a third Calgarian spotted fighting with extremist groups overseas, a University of Calgary terrorism expert warns that Canada needs to do more to prevent homegrown terrorists — and deal with radicalized ones who quietly return home.

“These individuals are going into these jihadist hot spots, they are fighting alongside and learning alongside (extremist groups), and becoming even further ideologically extreme,” said Michael Zekulin, who teaches political science and researches terrorism and radicalization.

“They come back and they have a whole lot of credibility. This is someone in the community that walks the walk, says, ‘I’ve been over there and I’ve been doing this,’ and will have a bigger reach of friends and acquaintances, more than a recruiter operating in the shadows.”

Zekulin’s comments come after another Calgarian was confirmed to be fighting abroad with extremist groups.

CBC News reported Wednesday that Farah Mahemd Shirdon, who is in his early 20s, is fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Shirdon, who at- tended SAIT in 2012, is seen in a recent ISIL video burning his Canadian passport and issuing threats to Canada and the U.S.

“We are coming and we will destroy you,” Shirdon said in the video.

One of Shirdon’s former schoolmates remembers him as “a jokester, kind of loud” in both John Ware Middle High School and Henry Wise Wood High School in Calgary, where he likely graduated in 2011.

“The video was really bizarre. Here he was trying to be like a thug, a cool guy. Now over there he’s speaking differently, with this accent. That’s not how he speaks,” said one woman who asked Postmedia News to withhold her name. “It’s like you’re genuinely brainwashed or you’re trying to gain respect and attention.”

The young woman recalled Shirdon living with his two brothers, a sister and a mother.