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Border Se,ices

CLASSIFICATION

2. AQ senior leadership has reportedly sent several veteran fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan toSyria, SIS does not have an estimate of original number these fighters at this time. The AQ fightershave linked up with IN, the local AQ affiliate in Syria. The AQ members formed an organization theKhorasan Group and set up training camps in areas of Syria controlled by IN.U (U)

3. The primary purpose of the Khorasan Group is reportedly to recruit, train and task foreign fightersfrom Europe and North America to carry out attacks against Western targets including commercialaviation and possibly in the foreign fighters home countries.tm(U)

Analysis

4. The Khorasan Group is reportedly working closely with members of al Qaeda in the ArabianPeninsula to train the foreign fighters in making and smuggling explosive devices. Reportedcollaboration between the Khorasan Group, AQAPs bomb-makers and Western foreign fighters ledthe US Transportation Security Administration in July to place a ban on uncharged mobile phonesand laptops from flights to the US originating in Europe and the Middle East.v (U)

5. The Khorasan group may include individuals from Canada, including Canadian citizens, and citizensof visa-exempt countries in Europe. Members of the Khorasan Group represent a direct threat toCanada and Canadian interests worldwide as they could conduct attacks against civilian passengerflights or travel to Canada with the intent to carry out attacks in this country. (U)

Update September 23, 2014

6. On September 23, 2014 the armed forces of the US launched military strikes against Khorasan Grouptargets located in Syria. The US air and missile strikes hit multiple sites including a training facility,command and control center, communications center and a bomb-making site. The strikes werelaunched to disrupt imminent threat of attack upon US interests by members of the KhorasanGroup. It is unknown at this time what the terrorist attack target or targets were. It is also unknownhow badly damaged the overall structure of the Khorasan Group is after the US attack.

Implications for the CBSA

7. CBSA frontline personnel would be the first government officials to encounter returning foreignfighters including individuals trained by the Khorasan Group..

(PB)

8. The recent passing of the Combating Terrorism Act introduced new legal offenses that prohibitindividuals from leaving or attempting to leave Canada for the purposes of committing specifiedterrorism offenses, including training with a terrorist organization. (PB)

2 PROTECTION . SER\/TCE INTEGRITYThis document is the property of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and should not be reclassified or disseminated without priorconsent of the originator. The information must be stored, transmitted, and safeguarded in accordance with its classification level, as outlinedin the Government Security Policy and the CBSA Security Policies, If access is requested under the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Ad,no decision should be taken without prior consultation with the originator, as the information may be subject to exemptions. Requests foradditional use should be forwarded to the Security Intelligence Section at

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or by email atContact For more information, please contact the Security Intelligence Section by phone at

End Notes

Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal: On the CIA estimate ofnumber offighters in the Islamic State (13 09 2014).Ken Dilanian and Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press: al-Qaidas Syrian cell alarms US(13 092014)

IbidIV Ibid

Paul Cruickshank and Tim Uster, CNN: U.S. Strikes Khorasan Group in Syria, which posed imminent threat to West (23092014)

3 PROTECTiON SERVICES NTEGRITYThis document is the property of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and should not be reclassified or disseminated without priorconsent of the originator. The information must be stored, transmitted, and safeguarded in accordance with its classification level, as outlinedin the Government Security Policy and the CBSA Security Policies. If access is requested under the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act,no decision should be taken without prior consultation with the originator, as the information may be subject to exemptions. Requests foradditional use should be forwarded to the Security intelligence Section at