Canadians added to U.S. most-wanted terror list

Two Canadians are the latest addition to the United States’ list of most-wanted terrorists — men it says are a threat to American national security and economic interests.

The decision to add 24-year-old Farah Mohamed Shirdon and 30year-old Tarek Sakr to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists was published Wednesday in an official register of U.S. government regulations.

In an online bulletin, the State Department identifies Sakr as a Syrian-born Canadian citizen who has conducted sniper training for the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front.

Canadian-born Shirdon, who the Americans say also goes by the name of Abu Usamah, is a prominent fighter, as well as recruiter and fundraiser for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

“Today’s action notifies the U.S. public and the international community that Sakr and Shirdon are actively engaged in terrorism,” the U.S. State Department said in a release online.

In September 2015, the RCMP laid terrorism several charges in absentia against Shirdon, including participation in the activity of a terrorist group and instructing others to carry out terrorist activity.

The charges against the Calgary man came a year after an ISIL video surfaced of him burning his Canadian passport. Police say Shirdon — who left Canada on March 14, 2014, to fight with ISIL in Syria — was last known to be in the city of Raqqa.

The U.S. notice about Sakr says he “has conducted sniper training in Syria and periodically travels to Turkey,” but a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale would not give more information about the Canadian man.