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Captured Canadian ISIS fighter could be the voice in propaganda videos

A man, identified as Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed, was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces.
ISIS-fighter

A Canadian ISIS fighter captured in Syria may be the voice behind the terrorist group’s English-language propaganda, according to an expert who studies Western foreign fighters.

On Sunday, a man who identified himself on video as Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed, a Canadian from Toronto, was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters.

In a video released by the SDF on Wednesday, Mohammed, who is seen with bandages on his forehead, said he was originally from Ethiopia but that he came to Syria from Canada in 2013.

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“I was captured by [SDF] after attacking one of their points and entering into a gun battle with them,” said Mohammed. “After they called me to surrender, I surrendered myself.”

He said there were still thousands of fighters, including many from Western countries, in ISIS-held territory, but that many were trying to leave for Turkey.

Observers, however, honed in on his familiar-sounding voice and accent.

According to Amarnath Amarasingam, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, it’s the same voice behind one of ISIS’ most notorious English propaganda videos, Flames of War, and audio recordings claiming responsibility for the attacks in Paris in 2015 and in Orlando in 2016.

Authorities have been trying to pin down the voice behind the infamous Flames of War video, aimed at English speakers, since it was released in 2014. In the 55-minute video, a masked ISIS fighter speaks to the camera in perfect English before leading a mass execution of a group of men.

“From the first time I heard the Flames of War videos, the dude’s voice sounded distinctly Canadian and distinctly like the people I grew up with in Toronto,” tweeted Amarasingam.

After Amarasingam tweeted a photo of Mohammed following his arrest, a childhood friend of the fighter reached out and said he knew him.

“He asked if I could send him the full video. After watching the video, he said it is the same person who grew up with him and also mentioned that he was the voice behind much of the English language ISIS releases since around 2014,” Amarasingam told VICE News. The same friend told the researcher that the captured man went by the name Abu Ridwan when he lived in Toronto.

On a recent trip to Syria, Amarasingam learned from another fighter that a Canadian whose kunya — nom du guerre — was Abu Ridwan al Kanadi was the voice behind the English language videos.

Mohammed’s capture brings the total number of Canadians in SDF custody to 14, including four men, three women, and seven children.

Cover image: a screenshot from video released by Syrian Democratic Forces.