Former Calgary man Farah Mohamed Shirdon 1 of 2 Canadians added to U.S. terrorist list
Carly Stagg | CBC News | Posted: April 23, 2017 3:38 PM | Last Updated: April 23, 2017
Farah Mohamed Shirdon and Tarek Sakr were named as 'Specially Designated Global Terrorists' by U.S.
The U.S. Department of State has added two Canadians to its most-wanted global terrorist list.
Farah Mohamed Shirdon and Tarek Sakr were named as "Specially Designated Global Terrorists," according to a release from the State Department.
The designation "imposes sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed, or pose a serious risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States."
- Farah Mohamed Shirdon, Canadian jihadist thought killed in Iraq, appears in Vice video
- Calgary mosque tainted by 'dark element' of radicalization closes doors
Former Calgary resident Shirdon left Canada to fight with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
He was a student at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology until at least 2012 and was said to be radicalized at a now-closed mosque in downtown Calgary.
In 2014, the Toronto-born Shirdon was captured on video burning his Canadian passport and threatening Canada, the U.S. and "all oppressors."
The State Department said Shirdon is a prominent ISIS fighter and recruiter, who has also been involved in fundraising.
In 2015, RCMP charged Shirdon in absentia in with numerous terrorism-related criminal offences. That same year, Interpol added him to its wanted list.
Tarek Sakr, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was a pharmacology student in Quebec. According to the U.S. State Department, Sakr has been linked to the foreign terrorist organization al-Nusrah Front, al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria.
The designation prohibits U.S citizens from engaging in transactions with Sakr or Shirdon.