Canadians involved in kidnappings, torture of US journalists – report
At least three Canadian nationals, who joined an Al-Qaeda-linked militant group in Syria, were responsible for holding and brutally interrogating US journalists Theo Curtis and Matt Schrier, CBC reported.
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The identities of the three are not known, nor have they been
captured, according to Canadian media.
Citing sources, CBC said the three Canadians interrogated the US
journalists to obtain computer passwords and PINs. The captors
stole from the journalists’ banking accounts and wrote cruel
letters to family members pretending to be the hostages.
They also used credit cards to buy electronic equipment on eBay.
Curtis and Schrier were held in captivity between 2011 and 2013.
Schrier escaped from his kidnappers last year, while Curtis was
released by the jihadist Al-Nusra Front group last month.
The Canadian government earlier estimated that around 130
Canadians have joined extremists groups overseas. However, CBC
now believes that numbers is somewhere between 200 and 300
people.
Out of various extremists groups, most of the individuals are
joining the Islamic State (IS), previously known as Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL).
Spread of ISIS
The IS is now in control of the territory the size of UK, a senior US counter-terrorism official Matthew Olsen, said on Wednesday, adding that the group sees itself “as the new leader of the global jihadist movement.”
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The extremist group is also making US$1 million a day from
selling oil and from hostage ransoms, as well as having 10,000
militants in its ranks.
Olsen added that the IS was able to expand rapidly due to weak
governments in Syria and Iraq.
“[IS] threatens to outpace Al-Qaeda as the dominant voice of
influence in the global extremist movement,” he said.
The Islamic State began attracting worldwide attention this
summer as it made rapid territorial gains in western and northern
Iraq, threatening religious and ethnic minorities with death
unless they converted to their extreme brand of Islam. Their
success triggered renewed military action by the US in the form
of airstrikes and the deployment of military advisors. On
Tuesday, President Barack Obama announced 350 additional troops
would be sent to Iraq to bolster diplomatic security.
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