DEVELOPING Jasper updates: 'Significant loss' within Jasper townsite
One of two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park has reached the townsite.
A Canadian citizen has pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court on Friday for funding ISIS militants in Syria.
In a news release, the U.S. Department of Justice says former Edmonton resident Abdullahi Ahmed Abdullahi admitted to providing material support for individuals involved in ISIS terrorist activities and has agreed to a sentence of 20 years in prison.
Between November 2013 and March 2014, Abdullahi wired money to his four cousins as well as San Diego resident Douglas McCain for plane tickets and living expenses. This included US$3,100 to McCain, who was the first known American to die for ISIS.
The five individuals travelled from San Diego, Minneapolis and Edmonton to Syria, where there were all killed while fighting for the terrorist group.
The Department of Justice says Abdullahi also wired money to intermediaries in Gaziantep, Turkey, a city located 65 kilometres from the Syrian border, which was also used to support people involved in ISIS.
Abdullahi also admitted to committing an armed robbery at an Edmonton jewelry store in order to finance these activities, U.S. authorities say. He is still facing robbery charges in Canada.
“The defendant committed violent, criminal acts to obtain money to help fund Douglas McCain’s travel overseas to fight for ISIS, where McCain was ultimately killed,” FBI special agent in charge Suzanne Turner said in the news release.
McCain's brother, Marchello Dsaun McCain, was sentenced in 2018 for illegal possession of firearms and for making false statements to FBI agents regarding his knowledge of the conspiracy, including Abdullahi's role.
Abdullahi was arrested by Canadian authorities in September 2017 after being indicted by a federal grand jury in California.
An extradition order for Abdullahi was granted by a judge in Alberta in May 2018. Canadian federal prosecutors said that Abdullahi had used draft emails in a shared email address to communicate with his co-conspirators.
At the time, his defence lawyer argued that the draft emails were insufficient evidence for extradition. The Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed Abdullahi's extradition appeal in June 2019. He was extradited to California in October 2019.
Randy Grossman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, thanked the RCMP, the Edmonton Police Service, as well as federal and provincial prosecutors in Canada for their co-operation.
"Terrorist networks can’t survive without people like Abdullahi,” Grossman said in the news release. “Our top priority is protecting Americans from terrorists, and with today’s guilty plea, we have delivered justice to someone who directly funded violence."
One of two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park has reached the townsite.
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
Two people are dead and two others suffered serious injuries following a shooting that police have described as a 'gun battle' outside a plaza in Scarborough, Ont. early Wednesday morning.
A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.
A well-known childhood prank known as 'nicky nicky nine doors,' or 'ding dong ditch,' has escalated into a more serious game that could lead to charges for some Surrey, B.C. teens.
It's been more than a month since their good friend was seriously hurt in an accident and two teens from Riverview, N.B., are still having a hard time dealing with it.
Halifax bridges have collected thousands of coins from around the world.