Identities of 2 Quebec men who fought in Syria revealed

An investigation by Radio-Canada's Enqutehas uncovered theidentities of a group of 10 young Quebecers who secretly joinedmilitants inSyria to fight against the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The group was made up offriends who often gathered at a Montreal-area shooting range to practise before seven of them left for the Middle East between the summers of 2012 and2013, Radio-Canada has learned.

According to witnesses, the young men brought two firearms to the shooting range. One of them wasan imitation Soviet semi-automatic carbine, called an SKS, similar to the one used by rebels in Syria.

Some of the young men trained at the shooting range over a period of several months, two to three times a week.

Severalof them are believed to have been converts to Islam.Witnesses said that during their practice sessions, they would interrupt their shooting to pray.

Comment triggers police monitoring

Radio-Canada learned that after one of those practices, a client overheard one of the men say he was unhappy the targets weren't non-believers.

• CBC Investigates | Ex-hostage says there may be Canadian al-Qaeda link

The owners of the centre were notified about thatincident and contacted authorities, who launched an investigation.

After that, police were present during the men's practices. The RCMPstarted monitoring several of the menwithelectronic surveillance, following some of them closely in some cases, day and night.

• U.S. journalists Theo Curtis, Matt Schrier held hostage by Canadians in Syria

CBC learned, in collaboration withEnqute, that members of the group werethe first wave of Quebecers to leave the country to fight in Syria.

Some of them are believed to have joined the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group thatfights against Assad and collaborates with radical Islamists with links to al-Qaeda.

At the time of their departure, the youngest Quebecer was just 17 and the oldest was 26.

They are now being investigated by the RCMP, suspected ofterrorist acts linked to the kidnapping and extortion of two Americans in Syria.

Wassim Boughadouand Tarek Sakr

Quebecers Wassim Boughadou and Tarek Sakr weretwo membersof that group who, along with one other man, organized the practices at the shooting range.

Boughadou, whose parents were born in Algeria, was a trainer ata gym.

Sakr, a pharmacology student, hasfamily ties to Syria. According to Enqute'ssources, two of Sakr's cousins were killed inLatakia, a region of Syria that waswracked by violenceat thestart of the conflict.

In the summer of 2015, the RCMP carried out search warrants at the pair'shome and at the homes of two other members of the group.

Link to hostages?

Neither Boughadou nor Sakr could be reached for comment.They are believed to still be travelling around Turkey, and Syria, andBoughadou may have spent time with ISIS.

Other members of the group are back in Quebec and are still under investigation.

Police investigators suspect the group of Montreal men committed terrorist acts linked to the kidnapping and extortion of two Americans in Syria Theo Padnos and Matthew Schrier.

CBC News has previously reported that following his escape,Schrier uncovered information possibly linking one of his masked captors to a Westmount address in Montreal.

Schrier told CBC News that he noticed the men's distinct accents and that he and Padnos wereconvinced that two of their jailers were Canadians.

There were some who were much more radical who won't be coming back.- Friend of one of the Quebec Islamists

Schrier said during his imprisonment he was asked to hand over his passwords and social security number. Later, he learned that his credit card was used to buy two Samsung tablets, delivered to an address in Westmount.

According to Radio-Canada's investigation, the two tablets may have ended up in the hands of Wassim Boughadou.

The RCMP havenot laid any charges against any of the Montreal men in connection with Schrier'scase,and Radio-Canada/CBC has no proof that anyof them were in Padnos and Schrier's cells when they were being held captive.

IsmaelHabibon trial

IsmaelHabibis another one of the young men who trainedat the shooting range.

He left Quebec in 2013, after the kidnapping of the two American hostages.

• 'I love jihad more than everything':IsmaelHabib'scomputer focus of Crown's case

He is now ontrial in Montreal on charges ofattempting to leave Canada to commit terrorist acts and of giving false information to obtain a passport.

Witnesses at that trial have testified thatHabibconfessed to them about havingspent time in Syriaand wanting to go back. Video presented as court evidence showsHabibwhipping a man, who, according to police testimony,Habibsaidwas a Syrian prisoner. The undercover agent saidHabibtold himthe video was shot in Syria.

Since his return to Canada,Habibis believed to have received threats from his former brother-in-lawWassimBoughadou.

Victims of manipulation?

Radio-Canada's Enquterepeatedly asked the young men who have returned to Quebec for interviews.

Allrefused, except for one, who wrotethe following response:

"I reiterate that I have nothing to do with the crimes that were committed against Schrier and Padnos I find that it's unfair to associate my face with this just because of a shooting range where there was no question of joining a terrorist group nor of committing a crime."

Someone close to one of the 10 men,who agreed to an interview with Radio-Canada on condition of anonymity, said the young men are more victims than anything else.

"They left, I think, with good intentions, to do their duty as Muslims," he said."But I think that they were manipulated."

"There were some who were much more radical," he added. They are still overseas, he said, and"won't be coming back."