TORONTO — Interpol has added a 22-year-old Canadian man to its wanted list, after he allegedly left Alberta to fight with ISIS in Iraq and appeared in a propagandist video in which he threatened Canada and the U.S.
Farah Mohamed Shirdon, 22, faces numerous charges from Interpol including leaving Canada to participate in activity of a terrorist group, participation in activity of a terrorist group, two counts of instructing a person to carry out activity for terrorist group and two counts of commission of an offence for a terrorist group.
Shirdon, who was born in Toronto but most recently lived in Calgary, was charged by the RCMP on Sept. 24 in absentia because they believed he remained overseas. A Canada-wide arrest warrant was also issued.
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Charges laid against Shirdon by the RCMP in September included:
- Leaving Canada to participate in the activity of a terrorist group
- Participation in the activity of a terrorist group (ISIS)
- Instructing a person to carrying out terrorist activity for the benefit of ISIS
- Instructing a person to carrying out terrorist activity for the benefit of ISIS
- Commission of an indictable offence for a terrorist group
- Commission of an indictable offence for a terrorist group, “relating to the utterance of threats made on or about September 23, 2014 during an interview with VICE Media.
Global News first reported on Shirdon in June, after he was seen along with other foreign fighters in a video released by ISIS, also referred to as the Islamic State, depicting him tearing up his Canadian passport and throwing it into a small fire.
Shirdon also issued a warning to Canada and the U.S. in the video, saying “we are coming and we will destroy you. … We are going for you Barack Obama.”
“Our investigation showed that Shirdon served in a combat role and performed other functions for ISIS such as recruiting, fundraising, encouraging others to commit violence, and spreading propaganda – all designed to enhance the activities of the ISIS,” Assistant Commissioner Marlin DeGrand said in a release in September.
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RCMP said their investigation — part of what they call Project Staccato — determined that Shirdon left Canada on March 14, 2014, to fight with the Islamic State in Syria. He was last known to be in the city of Raqqa. Reports that he had been killed in Syria in 2014 were proven to be false.
Some media have reported that Shirdon, a nephew of a former prime minister of Somalia, used to work at a Calgary movie theatre.
Mounties said at the time they were working to bring Shirdon back to Canada so he can be arrested. No officials have yet to comment on how likely that may be.
With files from Erika Tucker, Nick Logan and The Canadian Press
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