Former University of Manitoba student faces new terror charges in U.S.

A former University of Manitoba student awaiting trial on terror-related charges is now facing additional charges for his alleged involvement in an attack on a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.

Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh has been charged with additional counts of conspiring to murder U.S. nationals, use of explosives, conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to bomb a government facility.

The charges stem from his alleged involvement in a January 19, 2009 attack on a U.S. military base.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Al Farekh assisted in preparation of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED). One co-conspirator allegedly detonated one of the car bombs during the attack on the base.  The second vehicle's explosive wasn't activated and Al Farekh's fingerprints were recovered from the packing tape on the devices, justice officials said.

The indictment also alleges that Al Farekh provided material support to al-Qaeda between December 2006 and September 2009.

'Turned his back on our country'

"Farekh, a citizen of the United States, allegedly turned his back on our country and tried to kill U.S. soldiers," said Robert L Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

"Today's charges demonstrate that the patriotism and service of the members of our armed forces will never be forgotten and that we will make every effort to prosecute those who would harm our country and our armed forces," he said.

Al Farekh and two other University of Manitoba students left Winnipeg for Karachi, Pakistan in March of 2007, allegedly to join al-Qaeda.  Al Farekh, Ferid Imam, and Miawand Yar dropped all contact with their families.  After their disappearance Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents and the RCMP counterterrorism unit interviewed other Muslim students on the U of M campus.

Al Farekh was taken into U.S. custody in April of 2015.  At the time U.S. justice officials asserted the Texas-born Al Farekh worked with others to provide "material support," specifically "personnel to be used in support of efforts to kill American citizens and members of the U.S. military abroad.

Al Farekh will be in court Thursday in New York to answer to the new charges.

If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.