'I never took part in beheadings': Canadian ISIS sniper has warning about future of terror group

Hassaka, Syria -

Editor's note: CTV W5's Avery Haines was given rare access to a Syrian prison where thousands of accused high-ranking ISIS members, including some Canadians, are being held.

An admitted Canadian ISIS sniper held in one of northeast Syria’s highest-security prisons has issued a stark warning about the potential resurgence of the terror group.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or a genius to figure it out,” the man from Mississauga, Ont., told CTV’s W5 during a rare interview. 

Muhammed Ali is one of an estimated 10,000 suspected foreign ISIS members detained in makeshift Kurdish prisons since the U.S.-led coalition that included Canada declared victory over ISIS in 2019. Without formal charges or trials, these prisons described as mini-Guantanamo Bays are hotbeds of radicalization and targets for potential prison breaks by ISIS sleeper cells. 

A looming threat

During the interview, Ali did not shy away from the group’s potential for resurgence.

“What’s going to happen in the future?” he mused, before describing a “vicious cycle” of conflict and ideology that he says leaves the door wide open for a comeback of ISIS or even more “hardcore” groups.

Counterterrorism experts echo these fears, warning that the overcrowded and under-resourced facilities are a “ticking time bomb.” The instability in the region poses an ever-present threat, as ISIS sleeper cells continuously plan operations to free imprisoned fighters.

In 2022, a sophisticated prison break took Kurdish forces nine days to subdue, leaving 150 soldiers dead and allowing more than 400 suspected high-ranking ISIS members to escape.

Ali is being held at the highest security prison, called Panorama. He admits he joined ISIS in 2014, initially under the guise of fighting against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which was waging war against his al-Assad’s own people. 

Ali shares a cell with about 25 other men from all over the world. I asked him point blank if he denounces ISIS ideology and if he is a terror threat.

It’s a loaded question, because he will be returned to a cell with suspected high-ranking terror leaders.

“If I go back (to Canada), I’m not looking to terrorize or cause problems,” he said.

• Part one: Canada's least wanted man: A family's long and lonely fight to bring their son home from Syria
• Part two: 'Let me rot in Canada,' pleads Canadian ISIS suspect from secret Syrian prison
• Part three: Inside Syria's toughest prison holding accused high-ranking ISIS members

Global News reported in 2021 that it had obtained top-secret documents showing that Canadian prosecutors have approved two terrorism charges against Muhammed Ali.

But the only way he can be charged is if he is repatriated to Canada, because there is no legal system in place in northeast Syria to charge or try foreign detainees. Despite this, Ali says, he has never even been interviewed by Canadian police.

Ali is one of at least eight Canadian citizens being held without charge in northeast Syria. 

Canada’s policy has been to repatriate so-called “ISIS brides” and their children, but not the male detainees. 

In October of 2024, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged nations to follow the American lead and repatriate male citizens. All 27 American detainees have been returned to the U.S. Ten faced subsequent terror charges.

• Watch the latest W5 investigations

While Ali admits to being a part of the terror group, another Canadian citizen who has been imprisoned for seven-and-a-half years without charge, Jack Letts, says he was actually an enemy of ISIS within its territory. His parents have waged a decade-long battle to try to rescue their son, who they haven’t seen since 2014. 

Watch "Avery Haines Investigates," a special one-hour documentary airing Saturday Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. on CTV. It will also be posted to CTV W5’s official YouTube channel.