Foreign Peshmerga volunteer under investigation at Scottish airport
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A Scottish Peshmerga volunteer who fought the Islamic State (IS) in the southern Kurdistan Region was held under investigation after he returned home on Sunday.
Alan Duncan, a Scottish fighter who served among Peshmerga forces in the fight against IS, told Kurdistan24 Scottish police held him “under ‘schedule 7’ of the terrorist act.”
“They asked me some questions. The main focus of the questioning was whether I had shot anyone, they meant Da’esh,” Duncan told Kurdistan24, using the Arabic term for IS.
He mentioned the police still had all his luggage, mobile, laptop, and SIM cards. “They are going through all pictures and footages,” Duncan revealed.
“The police are discussing with the Crown Prosecution service whether to charge me under the terrorism act next week,” he said.
According to the volunteer, him and his family had received death threats from IS sympathizers.
“The police should have been concerned about the death threats I received from a terrorist organization rather than asking me indirectly whether I had shot any Da’esh militants,” he stated,
In 2014, Duncan joined the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) for two months.
After returning home to the UK in November 2014, he joined Peshmerga forces in the Kurdistan Region in the battle against IS.
In two years, Duncan trained many Peshmerga forces and fought the extremist group on different front lines.
“In my previous trips back to Scotland, I was stopped twice, but police were more than happy to clear me being a Peshmerga. They wished me a safe trip. They had no problem with Peshmerga as it is an official army of the Kurdistan Region,” he added.
According to Duncan, the “attitude” of the Scottish government toward the fight against IS had changed, asking the UK to stop its campaign in Syria and Iraq.
“I feel this stop is connected to the Scottish government’s attitude toward the UK helping Peshmerga,” he continued.
Kurdistan24 emailed the Scottish airport regarding Duncan’s case but received no response.
The Peshmerga volunteer was previously in the British army for 13 years.
“I didn’t join the fight against Da’esh because of any one reason. It was a combination, and I truly couldn’t believe the world was standing by watching and doing nothing,” Duncan said.
He mentioned the international community should provide more support to Peshmerga, especially the UK whose contribution to the Kurdish forces, according to Duncan, was minimal.
“The world owes the Peshmerga, and must never forget while the world stood by it was the Peshmerga that held Da’esh back, pushed them back, and destroyed them,” he concluded. “It was my honour to stand with the Peshmerga and Kurdistan.”
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany