Edmonton man Omar Aden believed to have joined ISIS

The family of a young man who lived in Edmonton believes he went overseas to fight for ISIS, CBC News has learned.

Omar Aden is in his mid-twenties and was living in Edmonton before leaving in the summer of 2013 to study Islam in Egypt, members of the Somali community in direct contact with family told CBC News.

Several months later, they say he called his family from Syria.

Aden's family believes he worked in Fort McMurray, where he fell in with extremists and became radicalized, community members said.

RCMP are not commenting on the case.

If confirmed, the man would be the fourth person from Edmonton's Somali community believed to join ISIS overseas.

Earlier this year, CBC reported three cousins who had been living in Edmonton were killed while fighting for ISIS. According to the father of one of the men, the trio left for Syria in October 2013 and were killed a year later.

​Jibril Ibrahim, president of the Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton, said it shows Canada must do more to address radicalization in its borders.

"There are about 160 Canadians who have left Canada to go out and be part of this terrorizing group," he said.

"So, we need to look, all of us, into the mirror and say 'why did we lose those youth and see what could we have done better?'"

Local groups say they are working with authorities and the community to counsel young people who might be vulnerable to radicalization.

"One more loss for the community, for Edmonton, for all Somalis," said Abdi Warsame, with the Alberta Somali Community Centre in Edmonton, a group that warned the prime minister in a letter last fall that several youth from the community had been recruited. "We are all sad. That should not happen.

"The problem I think comes from the youth when they lose hope, when they become dropouts at school, when they cannot manage to get the right jobs and that's when the problems start."

Last month, CBC News reported that a young woman who is believed to have joined group was radicalized by someone in Edmonton.