Somali-"Canadians" fighting for Taliban-like group in Africa

From the National Post (Somali holy warriors coming from Canada: experts by Stewart Bell, October 14):

A number of young Somali-Canadians have returned to their homeland and joined a hardline Islamic militia that some call Africa's Taliban, sources have told the National Post.

[Hyphenated Canadian - Uh, if they're Somali-"Canadians", wouldn't their homeland be Canada? I guess if a country is multicultural, loyalty is optional.]

The Shabbab, a Somali youth militia whose leader is believed to have been trained by al-Qaida in Afghanistan, includes several Canadians in its ranks, the sources said.

Somali-Canadians are also said to be serving in other militias, as well as in senior positions in Somalia's interim government and its opponent, the Islamic Courts Union.

The Canadians are described as refugees who moved to Toronto and Ottawa in the 1990s, some of them university students, who have returned to Somalia over the past two to three years.

"Some of the militia members of the Shabbab are young diaspora members who returned to Somalia from Canada," a leading Somalia expert, who asked not to be identified, told the Post this week.

"The Somalis who are here, and others who have recently been in, confirm that quite a few of the Shabbab are in fact diaspora members, not just from Canada, but quite a few have come back from places like Pakistan."

[. . .]

Read all of Stewart Bell's article.

See also:

Toronto Somalis want Ottawa to intervene in their former homeland

Somalis claim discrimination. Security guard company says the real problem is drugs

Toronto high school students who speak Portuguese, Spanish or Somali drop out at higher rates

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