[size=1.1]Reports citing an Iraqi counterterrorism official say two Canadians were among 20 females found in a secret tunnel during an assault on the former Daesh stronghold.
MONTREAL—Canada is investigating reports that two Canadians are among 20 women and girls captured by Iraqi forces hunting for Daesh militants in Mosul, according to a government spokesperson.
As families of Canadian foreign fighters desperately await news of their loved ones, government officials are also searching for facts and truth in the fog of a brutal war days after the Iraqi government declared victory over the terror group.
On Tuesday morning, those families awoke to reports that a group of about 20 female militants loyal to Daesh had been captured while hiding out in a secret tunnel in Mosul’s Quleiat neighbourhood.
A report citing an Iraqi counterterrorism official said that there were five Germans, three Russians, three Turks, two Canadians, a Chechen and six others from Libya and Syria who had been detained.
That information could not be independently verified by the Star. Global Affairs Canada said in a statement that it is trying to confirm details of the report with the Iraqi government.
“We are aware of these media reports. Canadian officials are contacting local authorities and gathering additional information,” said Jocelyn Sweet.
Herman Okomba-Deparice, the director of Montreal’s Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence, said he has received calls from the worried parents of Canadian foreign fighters who fear for their childrens’ lives.
There was little information available about the females captured in Mosul. Haider al-Araji, an Iraqi counterterrorism official cited by several media outlets said the females were members of a Daesh police unit and were armed with weapons and explosive belts.
German authorities are reportedly attempting to verify that one of the females is a 16-year-old German school girl believed to have fled her country in July 2016.
Alexandra Bain, the director of Hayat Canada, an organization that supports families of radicalized individuals, said that the Islamic terror group aimed to recruit young women below the age of 20.
“Before you had too many critical thinking skills,” she said. “They were very successful and the fact that 20 young women want to come home or were caught, this is now what we’re facing.”
She said the families of those whose children have been captured rather than killed in the assault on Mosul are likely to experience a temporary relief from their anxiety. After, they will be plunged into a nightmare of returning to their home country and facing justice or counseling for their extremist beliefs as well as the horrors they have participated in or lived through.
