Ottawa says looking into reports Canadian man killed fighting in Syria

Mustafa al-Gharib, from Halifax Nova Scotia, is reported dead in fighting in Syria. Photo Facebook

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - The Department of Foreign Affairs is looking into media reports that a Canadian-born Muslim convert has been killed fighting in Syria.

Reports say Mustafa al-Gharib, a 22-year-old who was born Damian Clairmont in Nova Scotia, was killed by Free Syrian Army forces during rebel infighting in the embattled city of Aleppo.

He left Calgary in 2012 to join a group of jihadis fighting the regime of president Bashar al-Assad.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Jean-Bruno Villeneuve says they are aware of the reports of al-Gharib’s death and continue to monitor the situation.

Word of the death first appeared on social media Tuesday night by way of a fighter who apparently knew al-Gharib personally.

It also came amid published reports that European intelligence agencies have shared information with the Assad regime about the 1,200 European jihadists who, like al-Gharib, have joined militant groups in Syria.