Edmonton man Omar Aden believed to have joined ISIS

Thursday, March 5, 2015

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It is thought that another man from Edmonton has been recruited to join ISIS, CBC News has learned.

Omar Aden is in his mid-twenties. He was living in Edmonton before leaving in the summer of 2013 to study Islam in Egypt, members of the city's Somali community told CBC News.

Several months later, he called his family from Syria.

A relative said Aden previously worked in Fort McMurray, where the family believes he may have fallen in with extremists and was radicalized.

If confirmed, the man would be the fourth person from Edmonton's Somali community to join ISIS overseas. Jibril Ibrahim, president of the Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton, said it shows Canada must do more to address radicalization in its borders.

"There are about 160 Canadians who have left Canada to go out and be part of this terrorizing group," he said.

"So, we need to look, all of us, into the mirror and say 'why did we lose those youth and see what could we have done better?'"

Earlier this year, CBC reported three cousins who had been living in Edmonton were killed while fighting for ISIS. According to the father of one of the men, the trio left for Syria in October 2013 and were killed a year later.

Last month, CBC News reported that a young woman who is believed to have joined group was radicalized by someone in Edmonton.

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