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| Britain |
| Former British Soldier Charged With Terrorism By England For Fighting Against ISIS |
| 2018-02-14 |
| [Telegraph] A former British Army soldier who joined Kurdish forces to fight Islamic State group extremists is to be charged with terrorism offences in the first case of its kind. James Matthews will appear in court to face a charge of attending a terrorist training camp, Scotland Yard said. The 43-year-old had returned to Britain to attend the funeral last week of Jac Holmes, a fellow British volunteer fighting with the Kurds who was killed in Raqqa in late 2017. Counter terrorism sources said the charges against Matthews were the first of their kind, but denied they heralded a change in policy towards those fighting against Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (Isil). While there has been public sympathy for the ragtag band of volunteers who have joined the Kurdish YPG militia fighting Isil, the UK authorities say the battle-hardened volunteers may still be vulnerable to radicalisation and potentially pose a security risk. Turkey also says the YPG is linked to the PKK separatist group which is proscribed n the UK. Sources said returning volunteers were being investigated on a case-by-case basis. Several have been arrested and questioned on their return. Matthews is believed to have served several years with the British Army in the 1990s and deployed to Bosnia. He joined the YPG in 2015 and has since served three tours with the militia group, specialising in clearing mines and booby-traps, Kurdish sources told the Telegraph. No charges for the 400 who returned to England after fighting for ISIS. |
| Posted by:Ulaigum Ebbineng7056 |
| #2 Kim Jong May covering her cabinet in glory. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2018-02-14 13:21 |
| #1 He's not the right sort of person, ya know. |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2018-02-14 09:06 |