Close X
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
ADVT 
International

Mother Of Canadian Killed Fighting ISIL Questions Delay In Returning Son's Body

The Canadian Press, 07 Feb, 2017 01:38 PM
    TORONTO — The mother of a Canadian man killed fighting Islamic State militants in northern Syria is questioning why her son's body still hasn't been recovered when the remains of a British fighter who died on the same day were on the way to the United Kingdom.
     
    Nazzareno Tassone, 24, was killed on Dec. 21 in the city of Raqqa, while fighting alongside the Kurdish People's Defense Units, a U.S.-backed group also known as the YPG.
     
    His family in Niagara Falls, Ont., only learned of his death in early January, when they received a letter from the YPG, which also said that his body had been seized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as ISIS or ISIL.
     
    "I just want him home. I need him home," Tassone's mother, Tina Martino, said in an emotional interview. "I haven't been at work. I just sit here, day after day, waiting for the phone to ring and hope."
     
    The Toronto Kurdish Community Centre, whose leaders delivered the YPG letter to Martino, has said negotiations are underway between the YPG and ISIL to retrieve Tassone's body.
     
    The centre has also said that the YPG was simultaneously negotiating to recover the bodies of other fighters killed in combat on the same day as Tassone, including a British volunteer fighter named Ryan Lock.
     
    Martino said she recently learned Lock's body was recovered, making her wonder why her son's body has not.
     
    "I asked why wasn't Nazz with Ryan and the only thing they could say was that they believe the two boys were not together at the same time," she said. "(The Toronto Kurdish Community Centre) told me at the beginning I was going to have to wait four to six weeks. And now I don't understand, he passed away on Dec. 21."
     
    Martino said she's calling on the Canadian government, the Kurdish community and anyone who can help in the matter to do what they can to bring her son's body back to Canada.
     
    "All I want to do is get my word out in asking to get my son home," she said. 
     
    Ihsan Kaya, co-president of the Toronto Kurdish Community Centre, said he's been in contact with the YPG regularly about Tassone and noted that the Canadian man and his British co-fighter may have been separated but were believed to be fighting in the same area.
     
    "The YPG doesn't have (Tassone's) body yet but I hope we get the good news soon," Kaya said, adding that the region the YPG is fighting in is a volatile one with fast-shifting boundaries.
     
    Global Affairs Canada said officials were in contact with local authorities to gather information and were also providing Tassone's family with consular assistance.
     
    A spokeswoman noted, however, that "due to the unpredictable security situation" the Canadian government's ability to provide consular assistance in all parts of Iraq and Syria is severely limited.
     
    Tassone left Canada in June, telling his family he was headed to Iraq and Turkey to teach English. His family had suspected, given Tassone's long-standing interest in the military, that he might get involved in the Middle East conflict, but it was only after his death that they learned he'd been fighting in Syria.
     
    Martino said she's vowed not to have a funeral for her son until his body was repatriated.
     
    "I said that there would be no funeral, there would be nothing. But now I don't know."

    MORE International ARTICLES

    University Of Toronto Student Released On Bail After Being Detained After Terrorist Attack

    University Of Toronto Student Released On Bail After Being Detained After Terrorist Attack
    Tahmid Hasib Khan, a permanent resident of Canada, was detained in August under a Bangladesh law that allows police to hold someone without a warrant if there is a reasonable suspicion of criminal involvement.

    University Of Toronto Student Released On Bail After Being Detained After Terrorist Attack

    Indians Have Carried On Mahatma Gandhi's Legacy: Barack Obama On Paris Agreement

    Indians Have Carried On Mahatma Gandhi's Legacy: Barack Obama On Paris Agreement
    "Gandhiji believed in a world worthy of our children. In joining the Paris Agreement, @narendramodi & the Indian people carry on that legacy," President Obama tweeted.

    Indians Have Carried On Mahatma Gandhi's Legacy: Barack Obama On Paris Agreement

    'Punched In Throat', For Wearing Traditional Attire, Alleges Muslim Scholar

    'Punched In Throat', For Wearing Traditional Attire, Alleges Muslim Scholar
    A Muslim researcher in the US who was on his way to deliver Friday sermon wearing traditional attire was allegedly punched by an unknown man in Washington

    'Punched In Throat', For Wearing Traditional Attire, Alleges Muslim Scholar

    Russia Welcomes Surgical Strikes, Asks Pakistan To Stop Terror Activities

    Russia Welcomes Surgical Strikes, Asks Pakistan To Stop Terror Activities
      Russia's Ambassador to New Delhi Alexander M Kadakin also said his country had always been with India in fighting cross-border terrorism.

    Russia Welcomes Surgical Strikes, Asks Pakistan To Stop Terror Activities

    Indian-Origin South African Teen Wins USD 50,000 Scholarship At Google Science Fair

    Indian-Origin South African Teen Wins USD 50,000 Scholarship At Google Science Fair
    Nirghin's discovery has huge financial implications for agriculture, as her creation could retail at USD 30 to USD 60 per metric tonne, as compared to the USD 2,000 plus costs of SAPs.

    Indian-Origin South African Teen Wins USD 50,000 Scholarship At Google Science Fair

    Woman Charged In Canadian Law Professor's Killing; Has Ties To His Ex

    Woman Charged In Canadian Law Professor's Killing; Has Ties To His Ex
    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Police have made a third arrest in the 2014 killing of a Canadian law professor in Florida, a woman with ties both to the family of the victim's ex-wife and one of the alleged shooters.

    Woman Charged In Canadian Law Professor's Killing; Has Ties To His Ex