Edmonton woman an ISIS recruiter: report
A young woman who fled Canada to join Islamic State in Syria last year had been recruited via an online course about Islam, according to CBC News.
CBC reported that the woman — whom they did not name — left the country last summer after taking the Islam course, which was run by a woman based in Edmonton.
The woman who ran the course hasn’t been charged with any offence but was asked to leave a mosque after attempting to recruit people to join Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, CBC reported.
The young woman who fled Canada is still in Syria, family members said.
Her sister told CBC that officials from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service visited the family before the young woman left for Syria.
“They told us she had been interacting with people they thought were dangerous and were influencing her in a negative way, but they didn’t give us enough information and it was all very vague,” the woman’s sister said.
On Wednesday, Edmonton police reacted to the story, saying that the “strongest weapon” they have against radicalization is to build trust, engage youth and work closely with community partners.
Insp. Dan Jones, with the police service’s investigative support branch, would not comment directly on the case, saying the force was only just informed of the case by the RCMP before its publication.
“You know what, we can’t be everywhere,” Jones said.
“We can’t be everywhere at all times. To me, the news makes part of our community. And if we were to be involved in those things at earlier stages, things sometimes can change. And my concern always when it comes to any of these kinds of things, is people holding onto information prior to getting it to police.”
Efforts by extremists to recruit in Edmonton have not intensified despite recent news stories on the topic, Jones said.
He said being recruited to join a terrorist organization is similar to being recruited into a street gang. He added it’s also not surprising that women are feeling the pull to join these extremist groups.
“People are looking for things to belong to, whether that’s ( Somali terrorist group) al- Shabab or a gang. So no, it’s just different and it’s highlighted in the media right now,” he said.
Terrorism and radicalization have been in the spotlight in Edmonton of late. Last weekend, al-- Shabab released a video that listed West Edmonton Mall as one of several targets.
In January, it was reported that three Edmonton men died while fighting for Islamic State last fall.
Jones said police have improved their relationship with community leaders and have embedded themselves in communities that historically were unwilling to co- operate with police.
“It is imperative we, as a police service and a society, look at terrorism and radicalization as extremist criminal behaviours,” he said. “This criminal activity is not about placing blame on a specific race, religion, culture or community.”