Canada link in Somali attack probed
Former Ontario student may have died in blast
The RCMP are investigating whether a former Ontario university student may be connected to a deadly Islamic extremist attack in Somalia’s capital over the weekend.
The National Post on Monday cited a community source as saying Mahad Ali Dhore — a former math and history student at York University in Toronto — had died in the suicide attack in Mogadishu.
It said the Canadian had travelled to Somalia in 2009 to join the armed Islamist group al-Shabab, an alQaida-linked militant group.
If confirmed, Dhore would be the second member of the so-called Somali Six known to have died.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack — a two-hour assault on the Supreme Court complex in Mogadishu, which involved six suicide bombings and two car bombs.
Several sources in Toronto’s large Somali-Canadian community told the National Post that Dhore’s family had been informed of his death.
However, one reportedly questioned whether Dhore had been one of the suicide attackers, suggesting it was possible he had been arrested and was making a court appearance when fellow al-Shabab members stormed the complex. At least 29 died and 58 were injured from gunfire and explosions.
News of the potential involvement of a Canadian emerges less than two weeks after officials confirmed two young Canadians from London, Ont., were linked to a deadly four-day siege at an Algerian gas plant earlier this year.
Somalia’s prime minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said 29 people died in the weekend attack, but a member of parliament said the death toll had reached 35, including nine attackers.
Shirdon said an international crew of experienced fighters was responsible.
“We are concerned about the foreign involvement in this attack and this is why we are working so hard with our international partners on security and intelligence sharing,” Shirdon said. “Once again, we see that terrorism is an international problem.”
Shirdon did not specify the nationalities of the foreign fighters.
The National Post reported in December 2009 that Dhore, then 25 and from Markham, Ont., was among a group of young Somali-Canadian men who vanished that fall and were feared to have left Canada to join al-Shabab.
RCMP officials said Monday they were aware of media reports of a possible Canadian link to the terrorist attack in Mogadishu but offered little else.
“We cannot provide specific de- tails but are working with relevant domestic and international partners to gather information,” said spokesman Sgt. Greg Cox.
A CSIS report last year noted that approximately 20 Somali-Canadians were believed to have travelled to Somalia to “engage in violent jihad as foreign fighters.”
It also stated there were concerns these foreign fighters might “disengage from Somalia to continue their violent jihad internationally, and potentially target their home countries, including Canada.”
In March 2010, the federal government listed al-Shabab as a terrorist group.