Top 10 news events for 2014
Calgary Herald | December 26, 2014
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7) Homegrown terrorism
Calgary Imam Syed Soharwardy called for a national inquiry earlier this month into the recruitment and funding of homegrown Muslim extremists, including dozens of Calgarians, as threats against the country escalated.
Weeks earlier, Calgary’s police chief met privately with a broad spectrum of local Muslim leaders for closed-door discussions about curbing youth radicalization.
Fears of homegrown terrorism were realized in October in two attacks. A Canadian soldier was killed in a hit-and-run in Quebec and another soldier was shot to death on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Michael Zihaf-Bibeau, gunned down by authorities during the attack, was found to have ties to Calgary, and while working in Alberta’s oilpatch, he used savings to help pay for “pre-attack activities,” say RCMP.
Federal officials believe 130 Canadians have been recruited to fight overseas by jihadist groups, with city police estimating at least 30 of them are from Calgary, including four men who lived in the same downtown apartment building.
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