RCMP charge B.C. man who allegedly joined Syrian fighters
A British Columbia man accused of taking up arms in Syria has become the first person to be charged under a new Canadian law targeting people who travel for terrorist purposes.
The RCMP announced Wednesday that Hasibullah Yusufzai, 25, of Burnaby, B.C., was charged on July 17 for leaving Canada to commit an offence “for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group.”
“The individual is known to have travelled to Syria to join Islamist fighters,” RCMP Sgt. Greg Cox said in a statement.
Yusufzai left Canada on Jan. 21. A source confirmed to Postmedia News late Wednesday that Yusufzai had slipped out of the country using a false passport. His current whereabouts is not known.
The so-called “foreign fighter” phenomenon has become a growing concern for Canada’s intelligence community. Several Canadians have reportedly died while fighting overseas.
In May, Mohamed Hersi became the first person in Canada to be convicted under a different set of laws for attempting to participate in a terrorist activity and for providing counsel to a person to participate in a terrorist activity. Prosecutors had said the 28-year-old Toronto man was attempting to join the Somali militant group al-Shabab when he was stopped at Pearson International Airport. Hersi is due for sentencing Thursday.
The RCMP said Wednesday they learned of Yusufzai’s departure only after he had left the country. They would not reveal who tipped them off.
Several Canadians have joined the Islamic State, the ultra-extremist group that now controls a swath of Iraq and Syria. In a video released by the group earlier this month, André Poulin, a troubled Timmins, Ont. youth who died in Syria last August, appealed to Canadians to join the fight to impose a radical Islamist state on the region’s inhabitants.
At a townhouse complex in Burnaby, a couple who identified themselves as Yusufzai’s parents would not entertain questions. The father became visibly agitated and shouted “no English, go, go, go,” before slamming the door.