RCMP make 2nd ‘national security’ arrest in Calgary in 2 months

Two months after an alleged former ISIS member was taken into custody in Calgary, the RCMP has confirmed to Global News that it has made another national security arrest in the city.

“I can confirm that an individual was arrested in Calgary today in relation to a national security file,” Alberta RCMP spokesperson Fraser Logan said Thursday.

“We will have more to say in the coming days.”

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada said it had “no information no provide at this time.”

The arrest followed terrorism charges in July against another Calgary resident, Hussein Sobhe Borhot, who allegedly left Canada in 2013, joined ISIS and returned home in 2014.

Borhot, 34, was first identified as a possible ISIS fighter in files smuggled out of Syria that showed a Calgary man with the same name and birth date had joined the terrorist group in 2013.

The leaked ISIS files also said Borhot had departed Syria on May 30, 2014 through the Azzaz border crossing. The reason for his departure was listed as “joining the brothers in Lebanon.”

Borhot quietly returned to Calgary, but it was another six years before the RCMP arrested him over his alleged time with ISIS. One of his charges alleges he was involved in a kidnapping.

1:24 Calgary man charged with terrorism offences after complex investigation

Last month, 23-year-old Haleema Mustafa was arrested for allegedly traveling to Turkey with her husband in an attempt to join ISIS. The Markham, Ont. resident was charged with two terrorism counts.

Meanwhile, a Kingston youth was convicted in July of working with an attack planner in Syria to plot ISIS bombings targeting nightclubs, churches and sporting venues in the United States.

“Canadian Extremist Travelers … continue to present a significant concern to law enforcement and intelligence services, having traveled abroad to engage in terrorism-related activities,” the RCMP said following Mustafa’s arrest.

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca