André Poulin
André Poulin | |
|---|---|
 André Poulin (left) on a scooter in Aleppo with Abdul al-Hazra (right) | |
| Nickname(s) | Abu Muslim al-Kanadi |
| Born | 1990 Timmins, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | August 8, 2013 Menagh Air Base, Aleppo, Syria |
| Allegiance | |
| Years of service | 2012—2013 |
| Battles / wars | |
André Poulin (born 1990—August 8, 2013,[1] also known by the alias Abu Muslim al-Kanadi[2], Arabic: أبو مسلم الكندي, lit. 'Abu Muslim the Canadian') was a Canadian Islamic convert and Islamic State militant who left Canada to Syria in late 2012 to fight the Ba'athist regime.[3]
Life
[edit]Poulin was born in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, in 1990. He worked as a local street janitor and earned approximately 2,000 Canadian dollars per month before converting to Islam in 2008.[4] Before becoming a Muslim, Poulin shown interest in both communism and anarchism before converting to Islam.[5] He followed a strict interpretation of Islam and this led to him becoming radicalized and violent, with him gaining and interest in explosives which is acknowledged by him through reading The Anarchist Cookbook and becoming violent towards people he knows, this includes after he had an affair with his wife and then threatening her husband for not being religious enough which caused him to spend a couple weeks in jail.[6] After his incarceration, Poulin spent significant time online, during which he made threats to bomb a local gas station.[7]
Militancy
[edit]In late 2012 Poulin would leave Canada to go to Syria and participate on the Jihadist factions of the Syrian civil war,[8] which is the same time Mohammed Emwazi would join ISIS.[9] Poulin traveled from Calgary to Syria to join ISIS’s Katibat al-Muhajireen (Brigade of the Emigrants).[10] During Poulin's time in Syria, Poulin would recruit 5 other Canadians to join ISIS after meeting Poulin in 2011 and being radicalized by him, though 3 of his recruits were rescued by their families before crossing into Syria from Lebanon the rest stayed to join ISIS.[11] After Poulin arrived in Syria he would find a wife and marry her, she would then get pregnant by him before dying.[12]
Death
[edit]Poulin would participate in the Siege of Menagh Air Base against both Free Syrian Army militants and Ba'athist soldiers.[13] During this siege, On August 8, 2013, Poulin joined other militants in an attempt to seize the air base during the offensive. This would cause him to be hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and subsequently be killed.[14]
After death
[edit]Approximately a year after Poulin's death on July 2014, the Islamic State's official media-wing Al-Hayat Media Center would produce a video entitled "The Chosen Few of Different Lands" which is 11-minutes long showing Poulin (shown under the alias Abu Muslim) making statements to potential recruits on how he was a regular Canadian and that they can join ISIS.[15] Poulin stated that ISIS needed more than just fighters for the so-called mujahideen and the ISIS need engineers, doctors, et cetera.[16] The video was professionally edited and included stock footage from North America, such as clips from official Alberta tourism videos.[17]
References
[edit]- ^ "Canadian 'martyred' while fighting in Syria, jihadist says". Toronto Sun. ISSN 0837-3175. OCLC 66653673. Archived from the original on 2024-06-03. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "Timmins, Ont.-born jihadist recruited 5 others for ISIS". Yahoo News. 2015-03-02. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Porter, Geoff (2015-04-30). "Canadian Foreign Fighters in Iraq and Syria". Combating Terrorism Center. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Schmidt, Michael S. (2014-07-16). "Canadian Killed in Syria Lives On as Pitchman for Jihadis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Stern, Jessica; Berger, J. M. (2015-03-09). "Thugs wanted – bring your own boots: how Isis attracts foreign fighters to its twisted utopia". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 60623878. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Hall, Justine (2015). "Canadian Foreign Fighters and ISIS" (PDF). University of Ottawa. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "Andre Poulin: dead Canadian jihadist used in ISIS recruitment video". CBC News. 2014-07-12. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "Another Canadian man dies fighting in Syria". CTV News. 2014-01-18. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "Jihadi John Shows Extremism Comes in All Shapes, Sizes". NBC News. 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Knights, Michael; Mello, Alexandre (2015). "The Cult of the Offensive: The Islamic State on Defense" (PDF). Combating Terrorism Center. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Kreiter, Marcy (2015-03-02). "Canadian Who Joined ISIS Recruited 5 Others From Toronto". International Business Times. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Bell, Stewart (2014-07-11). "'Regular Canadian' killed in Syria conflict featured in slick, new ISIS propaganda video". National Post. ISSN 1486-8008. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Larres, Klaus; Hof, Tobias, eds. (2022). "Terrorism and Transatlantic Relations". SpringerLink. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-83347-3.
- ^ "In Posthumous Appearance, Canadian Islamic State (IS) Fighter Urges Muslims In West To Travel To Syria, Says IS 'Can Easily Find Accommodation For You And Your Families'". Middle East Media Research Institute. 2014-07-13. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Stern, Jessica; Berger, J. M. (2015-03-08). "ISIS and the Foreign-Fighter Phenomenon". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. OCLC 936540106. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Tharoor, Ishaan; Ignatius, David; Jenkins, Sally; Kessler, Glenn; Hax, Carolyn; Stein, Jeff (2014-07-16). "This Canadian jihadist died in Syria, but his video may recruit more foreign fighters". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ Makuch, Ben (2014-07-16). "The Islamic State Stole Videos From Canadian Tourism Ads To Recruit Westerners". Vice News. Retrieved 2025-07-10.