First known Canadian Muslim waxed waging jihad in Syria

creeping
Thank Obama in part for legitimizing the Syrian jihadists. via Blazing Cat Fur: First Canadian to be killed in the jihad fields of Syria.

The civil war in Syria appeals to young Muslims from many countries including the West, wishing to join the ranks of Jihad (holy war) as part of the rebel forces in Syria, most of which are identified with radical Islamic streams.

Canadian citizens have also enlisted with the Syrian rebels. One of these Canadians was killed recently in fighting against forces of the Syrian regime in the environs of the capital Damascus. Jamal Mohamed Abd al-Kader was born and raised in Canada, a member of a Kurdish family originally from the village of Juka near Afrin in north east Syria.

Not to be confused with the other Canadian jihadist named Khadr who killed an American soldier.

Jamal, a student and his parents’ only son, decided last year to join the rebel forces in Syria. In July 2012 he arrived in Turkey, and a day later entered Syria via the Bab al-Salama crossing. He then joined up with the ‘Asifat a-Shimal Brigade’ of the ‘Free Syrian Army’, later joining the ‘Ahrar al-Sham Brigades’. Jamal participated in the fighting in the area around Aleppo during the summer and autumn of 2012, and went on to participate in the fighting around Damascus from December 2012 until he was killed by Syrian army fire on February 26, 2013.

One of the Syrian fighters who knew Jamal recounted that after a telephone conversation with his parents, during which they tried to convince him to return to Canada and complete his university studies, he tore up his Canadian passport, deciding to commit himself totally to fighting within the ranks of jihad.

Mohammad Talal Bazer Bashi, one of the founders of the ‘Ahrar al-Sham Brigades’ noted in a media interview that the number of volunteers originating from abroad reaches two percent of all fighters, all of them motivated by their desire to participate in Jihad. According to him, his organization embraces Islamic ideology and adheres to Sharia, Islamic law.

How many Muslims claiming America as their residence are waging jihad in Syria?