Dutch YPG volunteer arrested in the Netherlands

The YPG volunteer is the fourth Dutch citizen who now faces trial for joining the Kurdish forces’ fight against the Islamic State.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Authorities in the Netherlands arrested a Dutch volunteer last week – known by the nom de guerre Andok – who fought with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) against the so-called Islamic State in Syria’s Raqqa in 2017.

The Dutch Public Prosecution (OM) said in a statement on Tuesday that Andok, 24, had traveled to France in December 2016 and later went to a battle zone.

He was identified in a broadcast for the Dutch television program EenVandaag on Sept. 22, 2017, the OM said.

However, in the interview, he did not show his face nor reveal his real name to protect himself from the Islamic State.

In the broadcast, he told EenVandaag that he fought together with the Kurds against the extremist group in Raqqa.

The Dutch prosecution put the Dutch citizen on a watch list to be arrested.

Last week, Andok caught the attention of the Dutch Royal Netherlands at Schiphol airport who checked his identity and arrested him.

According to the 24-year-old, he had returned to the Netherlands one month ago.

On Tuesday, he was brought before the examining judgein Rotterdam, who put him in custody for two weeks.

Andok had known before his return to the Netherlands that things would not be easy for him. “Most likely they will question me,” he told EenVandaag in Raqqa in 2017.

This is not the first time a Dutch citizen who has returned to the Netherlands after fighting against the Islamic State has faced trial or been arrested.

Andok is the fourth Dutch citizen who now faces trial for joining the YPG’s fight against the Islamic State.

In 2016, the Dutch prosecution service squashed a case against the most well-known Dutch YPG volunteer, 47-year-old Jitse Akse, due to a lack of evidence.

In 2018, a Dutch Kurd named Devin, 28, was facing trial for fighting with the YPG during the battle for Tabqa in 2016.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany