EDMONTON - The leader of a Somali group has written to the prime minister warning that young people in Alberta are being recruited to become fighters for the radical group ISIL.
In his letter, Mahamad Accord says he has solid sources, including elders, who say youths from the Somali community as young as 16 have signed up to become terrorist soldiers.
Accord, who is president of the Canadian Somali Congress Western Canada, says he doesn't have any hard numbers on how many young people have been recruited.
He says some youths who have left have called home from countries such as Turkey without any explanation.
Accord is asking the prime minister for help to reach out to disaffected Somali youth to counter ISIL recruiters.
The extremely violent ISIL insurgency, also known as ISIS, broke out earlier this year, taking control of cities and land in parts of Iraq and Syria.