DID WE TRAIN TERROR LEADER?

A senior terrorist killed in Bangladesh last week may have been trained by the Canadian Armed Forces as part of an international military co- operation program, defence sources said Thursday.

The Department of National Defence said it was trying to verify whether Mohammad Zahidul Islam, the alleged second- in- command of a pro- Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) faction behind a wave of deadly attacks, had trained in Canada.

Also known as “Murad,” he was killed by Bangladesh security forces during a raid last Friday. Since then, the Dhaka press has reported the 37- year- old was an army major who had trained at the Canadian Forces junior staff college in 2013-14 before returning to Bangladesh, quitting the military and taking up terrorism.

“We are currently looking into the matter, but cannot confirm the information at the moment,” said Daniel Le Bouthillier, head of media relations at DND. But defence sources said the Bangladesh press accounts appear to be correct.

Canada’s Military Training and Cooperation Program has trained more than 2,000 military students from the Asia-Pacific region since 1965. Bangladesh is among the foreign militaries whose students have taken part in the program.

“The Canadian Armed Forces has exchange and training programs designed to enhance our bilateral relationships and promote Canadian values,” Le Bouthillier said. “These agreements between the CAF and the military forces and government agencies of other nations promote interoperability and by their presence, enhance understanding and co-operation.”

According to The Daily Star, a Dhaka newspaper, after returning from military training in Canada, Murad “looked interested in religious activities and started telling his friends that he would quit t he army as ‘ many things in the service contradicted his ethics and religious beliefs.’ ”

He retired from the Bangladesh military in July 2015 and his family lost contact with him in April 2016, the newspaper reported.

At the time he was killed, he was the alleged military commander of the group and provided arms training to its members.

The leader of the terror group has been identified as Tamim Chowdhury, 30, a Bangladeshi- Canadian who grew up in Windsor, Ont., but allegedly left for Syria after graduating from the University of Windsor. He arrived in Bangladesh in October, 2013, and was killed by security forces on Aug. 27, with two bodyguards.

The RCMP is trying to confirm Chowdhury’s death through DNA. Photos released by Bangladesh police show a man who closely resembles Chowdhury lying face down in a pool of blood. His family in Windsor declined to comment.

“There is still a lot that is unknown about the network around Tamim Chowdhury, but there does seem to be a Canadian connection — some i ndividuals with a passing link, others with a much more substantial connection, and still others who are facilitating these attack plans abroad,” said Prof. Amarnath Amarasingam, a fellow at the George Washington University program on extremism. “We still have a lot of gaps to fill.”

Murad and Chowdhury have been blamed by Bangladeshi authorities for organizing the July 1 attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka. ISIL claimed responsibility for the assault by five gunmen, who murdered 18 foreigners, four locals and two police officers.

A University of Toronto student who was in the restaurant, Tahmid Hasib Khan, was taken into custody after the attack, but his family and friends, as well as survivors, have said he was not involved.

Since the attack, Bangladeshi security forces have been tracking down members of the terrorist group responsible, which they call the Neo JMB, a pro- ISIL faction of the local armed Islamist group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh.

Amarasingam said the apparent Canadian links to the terror group are a reminder that not all extremists want to fight in Syria and Iraq.

“What the case of Murad shows is that while we are rightly focusing quite a bit of attention on Syria and Iraq, there are also other arenas that are attracting individuals from abroad.”