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Several Canadian jihadists took to Twitter following the strikes, signalling they had survived, but officials are concerned that as the coalition air strikes begin to take their toll, some foreign fighters could flee and attempt to return to Canada.

The online posts claimed a Somali-Canadian had died during ISIS raids on Kurdish villages near the Turkish border. He was not named but former classmates told the National Post the gunman in the accompanying photo was Mr. Mohamud.

Known to friends as “Mo3,” he lived with his mother, Asha, in Hamilton and is a former student of St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School in the city’s diverse West Mountain neighbourhood, although he did not graduate from there.

His father, who lives in Minneapolis, told Voice of America last week that his son had recently become extremely devout. During a visit to Minneapolis last July, Mr. Mohamud left for the mosque but never returned.

Hamilton police referred questions about Mr. Mohamud to the RCMP, which declined to comment. Mr. Mohamud did not respond to messages sent to either of his Facebook pages. His phone was not in service.

“We did have the young man with us for a few years,” said Susanna Fortino-Bozzo, principal at St. Thomas More. “I have a very vivid recollection of him being a very friendly, very sociable member of the school community.

“The young man was a respectful and hardworking student. He was friendly, sociable, very academically oriented. He was a vibrant member of the community. He was involved in extracurricular activities,” Ms. Fortino-Bozzo said.