Man gets more than 16 years in prison for Islamic State knife attack on B.C. bus

NEW WESTMINSTER — A man has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for slashing a bus passenger’s throat in Surrey, B.C., in 2023, in what prosecutors say was a terrorist attack.

The federal prosecution service said in a statement that Abdul Aziz Kawam was sentenced in British Columbia Supreme Court on Thursday to 15 years for attempted murder, as well as 20 months for aggravated assault.

He was convicted in June 2025, with the court determining Kawam carried out the attack to advance the objectives of the Islamic State terror group.

Prosecutors said in a statement that the sentences would be served consecutively for a total prison term of 16 years and eight months.

“The violence was carried out in support of an ideological-political organization, not the Islamic faith,” said George Dolhai, the service’s director of public prosecutions.

“Attempts to misuse or misrepresent any religion for extremist purposes highlight the importance of firmly rejecting ideological violence to help maintain the unity and trust that Canadians value.”

He said the slashing was a deliberate attack meant to cause “suspicion and fear” in public spaces, and it was “an attack on all Canadians, including Canadian Muslims.”

RCMP said in a statement that Metro Vancouver Transit Police and Surrey Mounties initially responded to a knife attack at a bus stop on April 1, 2023.

They said Kawam, who was 31 at the time, had approached a man at the bus stop, threatened him with a knife and chased him.

The victim at the bus stop escaped unharmed, but Kawam then boarded a Coast Mountain transit bus, slashing the throat of a man before being pushed off the bus.

RCMP said Kawam then “pledged allegiance to Abu Al-Hussaini Al-Quraishi — leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria at the time.”

He was arrested by police while holding the bloody knife, Mounties said.

Chris Jensen, whose partner is the victim’s sister, told The Canadian Press after the attack that his brother-in-law suffered vocal-cord damage and the incident could have been fatal had the knife been sharper.

The RCMP statement on Thursday said Kawam had already spent more than three years in jail at the time he was sentenced.

“As the court process concludes, we hope this outcome provides a measure of reassurance to those affected and our commitment to keeping our communities safe,” said Cpl. Parmbir Kahlon with the RCMP Federal Policing for the Pacific Region.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2026.

The Canadian Press