Canadians Startled by Alleged Involvement in Terror Attack in Bulgaria

Recent allegations of Canadian involvement in the terrorist attack in Bulgaria have raised questions about why some Canadians have become anti-Western extremists who want to commit violence at home and abroad, local media reported.

"Such extremists are "largely individuals who feel that the Muslim world is under attack and that somehow Canada is contributing to that," Richard Fadden, Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said, as cited by the National Post.

Fadden testified before the Senate national security committee on Monday.

He said while al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan had been weakened since the 9/11 attacks, its affiliates in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa and Somalia had become "much, much more operational" and that "in every single case" Canadians had joined their ranks.

"They go from being Muslims to being somewhat radical Muslims to being extremist Muslims to those that we worry about, which are extremist Muslims who want to do violence. A lot of it is, I think, marketing on the Internet. There are a large number of websites that advocate violent extremist action against the West."

Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov stated last week that Bulgarian investigators now have "a well-founded assumption" that the perpetrators of the deadly attack belonged to the military formation of Hezbollah.

Tsvetanov revealed that a man with an Australian passport and a man with a Canadian passport were two of the three conspirators involved in the attack, which claimed the lives of five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver.