The federal government is declining to explain how a Toronto man was able to immigrate to Canada despite allegedly having taken part in ISIS violence overseas.

Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, has been charged with committing an aggravated assault for the so-called Islamic State. The alleged incident took place outside Canada in 2015.

Sources have told Global News the charge stems from a video released by ISIS that year that shows a man dismembering a prisoner with a sword.

The RCMP arrested Eldidi and his son Mostafa, 26, at a hotel north of Toronto as they were allegedly about to commit a terrorist attack for ISIS. Police seized a machete and axe at the scene.