Did five Torontonians join jihad in Somalia?

They hung out at a Somali restaurant in "Little Mogadishu" in the northwest corner of the city, played basketball together, and worshipped at a North York mosque. The five friends, in their early to mid-20s, grew up and attended schools in Toronto. They spoke English and Somali. At least two of them were university students.That is, until all five disappeared.No one recalls them ever causing trouble. But the Star has learned Canadian intelligence officials were watching at least one of the young men several months before he mysteriously left homeMohamed Abscir and a fourth we know only as Ahmed vanished the first week of November. A fifth, Ahmed Elmi, left his home in Scarborough about three months ago. A sixth man, an Afghan, who worshipped at the same mosque, is also reportedly missing. Their passports are missing and they haven't called home. The overwhelming fear is that – like at least 20 young Somali-American men in Minneapolis who have disappeared in the past two years, and others from Australia, Sweden and Britain – the young men are en route to Somalia to fight alongside al Shabaab, an Islamist youth militia aligned with Al Qaeda. The Shabaab, which is fighting the government, is often called Somalia's Taliban. Its increasingly savvy online presence is being blamed as a possible reason for the disappearance of the five Canadians. And Somali community leaders fear other young people will be targeted as long as they feel alienated in this country, and embraced by another."These people can speak in their language and lure them from right under our nose," said Ahmed Hussen, the Ottawa-based president of the Canadian Somali Congress, adding people in the community have told him chat rooms were also used to lure the missing men. "We won't even know what's going on." THE FIRST Somali-Canadian to leave the country was Ahmed Elmi. The 22-year-old vanished in early September. A month later, friends say, he called his parents and told them he was in Kismayo, a port city in southern Somalia where the Shabaab has ruled for more than a year. Those who knew Elmi wonder how a boy who grew up in a quiet Scarborough community would flee to a city plagued by violence. Elmi's soft-spoken father said the family is still in shock and trying to understand what happened. He declined to be interviewed. RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers are investigating the disappearances, canvassing areas in Little Mogadishu and questioning families. But six months ago, CSIS agents paid a visit to the Scarborough condominium complex where another of the missing men, Mustafa Mohamed, lived with his family, says the building's property manager. "They said there was some kind of suspicious Internet activity and the family was under surveillance," said Raees Akhtar. On the second floor of the building, Mohamed's mother, Shukri, was too distraught to talk. "I'm not ready ...," she said from behind the closed door of her apartment. A friend said the family hadn't heard from Mohamed. "(Shukri) is very upset," she said. "She doesn't know what to do ... She has other younger children, too, and she's worried about them." During questioning, RCMP officers have shown photographs to the families and queried them about their sons' activities. .more..http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/737965--did-five-torontonians-join-jihad-in-somalia