Swedish Peshmerga: Kidnapping by YBS a ‘misunderstanding’

SHINGAL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A Swedish Peshmerga volunteer on Tuesday said reports of his kidnapping by Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) were a “big misunderstanding,” in a video recording released by ANF.

According to a report by Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Peshmerga volunteer Tony Ekman was abducted by the YBS, an armed group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Ekman, a 51-year-old Swedish citizen, had been in the Kurdistan Region to fight the Islamic State (IS) alongside the Peshmerga forces for over a year-and-a-half.

“Unfortunately, there has been some misunderstanding about this situation here by media back in Europe, so I wanted to speak and correct that,” an uneasy-looking Ekman said in the recording.

The Swedish volunteer said he chose not to participate in the recent Kurdish internal issues in Shingal because he was in the area to fight IS insurgents only.

Moreover, Ekman mentioned he didn’t “get along very well” with YBS forces, whom he stayed with in a house, because of the language barrier.

The Peshmerga volunteer explained he thought the YBS would send him to jail because of his refusal to fight against the Kurdish forces in Shingal.

However, as he stirred in his seat, the 51-year-old reassured viewers he was not abducted and had joined the YBS of his free will.

“I can say right now I am not kidnapped,” Ekman said. “I’m not [held] down here under gunpoint…I’m here on my own free will.”

A source from the PKK on Tuesday told Kurdistan24 the group was allegedly preparing a video where Ekman would be pressured to refute accusations about his imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad confirmed one of its citizens was in “distress” in northern Iraq.

Ekman had fought alongside Kurdistan Region Peshmerga forces in the Kirkuk and Shingal areas, including the liberation of Shingal from IS in November 2015.

(Baxtiyar Goran contributed to this report)