US sentences Canadian ISIS fighter to life in prison

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The US Department of Justice, in a press release on Friday, said that a Saudi-born Canadian citizen received a life sentence for supporting and fighting with the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) in Syria.

Most prolific propagandists during the ISIS’ surge “Mohammad Khalifa was sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiring to provide material support to the designated foreign terrorist organization, resulting in death,” the department said.

The 39-year-old Khalifa, aka Abu Ridwan Al-Kanadi and Abu Muthanna Al-Muhajir, served in prominent roles within ISIS starting in 2013 until his capture by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in January 2019.

He is accused of producing gory videos used by the ISIS to “incite attacks and recruit”, and also of executing two Syrian soldiers.

Khalifa is both the “voice-over narrator and an executioner” in the most influential and exceptionally violent ISIS propaganda videos are “Flames of War: Fighting Has Just Begun,” and “Flames of War II: Until the Final Hour.”

The footage scenes show Khalifa executing Syrian soldiers who had been forced to dig their own graves.

In 2013, Khalifa moved to join ISIS in Syria, where he “underwent training and used his English-language skills to narrate ISIS execution videos,” according Global News.

On Jan. 13, 2019, he was captured by the SDF when his AK-47 jammed while he was trying to target an SDF position in Abu Badran.

He had his initial appearance in the Eastern District of Virginia on Oct. 4, 2021.