TORONTO — About 20 Canadians have travelled to Somalia to join Al-Shabab, a federal official said two weeks after a Toronto man was arrested as he was allegedly leaving to enlist in the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group.

As many as three of the Canadians may have been killed so far, the official added, although such deaths are hard to verify because of the armed conflict and the lack of a diplomatic corps in Somalia.

The figures suggest the scale of Canada’s problem with Al-Shabab recruitment is comparable to that experienced by the United States and Europe, which also have sizable populations of ethnic Somalis.

The Al-Shabab threat was underscored late last month when police arrested Mohamed Hersi at Toronto’s Pearson airport. The RCMP alleged he was on his way to Somalia “to join Al-Shabab and participate in their terrorist activities.”

The 25-year-old former Toronto security guard, who is scheduled to have a bail hearing on Wednesday, was the first Canadian to be charged with terrorism offences related to Al-Shabab, but the group has been actively recruiting members in Canada for at least two years.

In 2009, six Somali-Canadians left Toronto for Somalia, where federal authorities suspect they joined the group. One was later eulogized on an extremist Internet forum, which said he had died in battle.

“It’s difficult for the RCMP to know how many people have left the country to join Al-Shabab as some are reported missing and others are not,” said Sergeant Marc Laporte, the RCMP spokesman for Ontario. “Some are reported to the police of jurisdiction and others are reported to the RCMP,” he said. “It is also difficult to put an actual number as most of these individuals don’t express their intent before leaving.”

A major counter-terrorism investigation underway in Toronto is trying to identify Canadians who have joined Al-Shabab and how they are being recruited. Most appear to be young Somali-Canadians drawn to al-Qaeda’s violent ideology.

Ahmed Hussen, president of the Canadian Somali Congress, said he was only aware of about a dozen cases, including two Ottawa men and a Toronto youth who trained with Al-Shabab and has since returned to the city.

“I haven’t run into those kinds of numbers,” Mr. Hussen said. “It seems a little high … but you know what, we’re always behind the security guys, they’re always ahead of us in terms of information. I wouldn’t rule it out, I wouldn’t put it past these guys to recruit 20 people or more.”

Al-Shabab, which means The Youth in Arabic, has been using a mix of terrorism and insurgency to impose Taliban-like Islamist rule in Somalia, which has been without an effective government for more than two decades. The group’s tactics — suicide bombings, roadside bombs, political assassinations and a pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden — have landed the group of international terrorist lists, including Canada’s. Using an Internet propaganda campaign, Al-Shabab has attracted hundreds of foreigners, among them Canadians, who have flocked to Somalia to join what they claim is a global jihad against the West.

“Islamist extremists are radicalizing and recruiting Somali-Canadian youths within Canada to travel to Somali for jihad training,” reads a de-classified 2010 Canadian intelligence report released under the Access to Information Act.

The RCMP is concerned about the potential for violence in Canada should the Al-Shabab recruits return home with the indoctrination and the weapons training necessary to carry out terrorist attacks. A Canadian Security Intelligence Service report recently obtained by the National Post under the Access to Information Act calls foreign travel an “important part in the radicalization process” of Islamist extremists.

“Those who have jihad experience are often transformed by it and return to their home countries enthused with a zeal to convince others to share their new-found desire to defend Islam,” reads the report, marked Secret. “This combination of enthusiasm, charisma and … tales of jihad can be a potent mix that can be used to draw the vulnerable into violence. The influence that these veterans can have in their communities is significant.”

Mr. Hersi was arrested as he was about to board a flight to London and Cairo. He has been charged with attempting to participate in terrorist activity and counseling a person to participate in terrorist activity.

The arrest followed a six-month joint investigation by the Toronto Police Service and RCMP called Project Severe. Last month, arrest warrants were issued for two Winnipeg men accused of traveling to Pakistan for terrorist training.
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National Post

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