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A man who claims to be Canadian was captured during a clash in Syria and accused of fighting for the Islamic state, according to Kurdish forces in the area.
A 41-second video interview with a silent, bearded, dark-skinned and apparently healthy man was distributed Sunday by various Kurdish political and media organizations, saying he was captured in Deir al-Zour , part of the remaining territory in Syria held by the Islamic State, also known as ISIL and ISIS.
Asked by an unseen interrogator, the man says his name is Mohammad Abdullah Mohammad and he has entered Syria via Turkey on the Idlib border.
"I am originally from Ethiopia and I came from Canada," he says in the video, according to a translation prepared for the National Post.
He named the Kurdish commander who captured him, for the encouragement of his interrogator.
"And you were in the trenches?"
"Answer.
"You came out and had a fight with our boys," he is asked.
"It is said.
In the video, Mohammad wears a black shirt under a camouflage jacket. He does not seem to be particularly distressed.
Amarnath Amarasingam, a university researcher who studies Western foreign fighters, said it was said that Mohammad was born in Saudi Arabia in 1983, came to Canada in 1988 and studied computer networking at Seneca College in Toronto.
Apparently Mohammad left for Syria between May and September 2013.
Lisa Pires, Seneca spokeswoman, refused to confirm whether Mohammad had ever enrolled in the school, citing privacy reasons. A request for information to Global Affairs Canada remained unanswered by the deadline, Monday.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of US-backed militias led by the Kurdish YPG, distributed the video online last Sunday, describing Mohammad as "an ISIS member of Ethiopian origin who holds Canadian citizenship".
US Army vehicles support Kurdish-led forces in Hajin, in the province of Deir al-Zour, eastern Syria, on December 15, 2018.
A week earlier, the SDF announced the capture of five other ISIL foreign fighters in the area, appointing two United States, two from Pakistan and one from Ireland.
He said the ISIL fighters were captured while trying to flee the diminishing territory controlled by ISIL in the Middle Euphrates Valley.
Amarasingam states that the capture of Mohammad brings the number of Canadians detained in Syria by the Kurdish forces to four men, three women and seven small children.
"The Kurds have always made public these types of arrests in the end, they both do to show that they are treating these prisoners with respect, but also to continue to pressure Western governments to bring their prisoners back," Amarasingam said.
According to the Kurds, they hold over 2,000 men, women and children from 44 countries, as prisoners captured in areas previously held by ISIL.
"It is not clear what will happen to these prisoners, because the nature of the conflict on the ground changes and, like Trump, decides to oust the American forces, they could be handed over to the Syrian government, they could be handed over to the Iraqi government or the Iraqi Kurds", said Amarasingam.
This has raised international concerns about the potential threat posed by extremist travelers returning to their countries of origin
Last month in a report on terrorist threats to Canada, public security Canada said that about 190 "Canadian extremist travelers" (CET) – people with links to Canada who went to participate in extremist activities in other countries – are currently abroad, including in Syria and Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North and East Africa.
About half of them are in Turkey, Syria or Iraq.
"In the last year, Daesh (another name for the Islamic State) has lost significant territory in Syria and Iraq," the report said.
"This has raised international concerns about the potential threat posed by extremist travelers returning to their countries of origin while escaping the conflict zone, Canada has not experienced, and does not plan to experience, a significant influx of returning extremist travelers affiliated with Daesh .
"Many of these people have been killed or captured in Syria and Iraq, and many will remain overseas due to their ongoing commitment to the cause, with only the few remaining openly expressed their desire to return to Canada. ".
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