Islamic State's Frightening New Enemies - Dutch Biker Gangs | HuffPost

Islamic State's Frightening New Enemies Look Like Vin Diesel's Social Conscience

Jessica Elgot— The Huffington Post UK

Fighters of Islamic State - you best be afraid. Because reinforcements are heading to the frontline in Syria, and they look like Vin Diesel's social conscience.

Meet Ron, he's just one of a number of Dutch bikers from the 'No Surrender' gang who saddled up his motor, swapped his leathers for a flak jacket and joined the Kurdish fighters in Iraq, according to a photograph on a Dutch-Kurdish Twitter account.

Holding a Kalashnikov assault rifle and making the peace sign, a tattooed Dutchman called Ron is shown in military garb, one of several who are said to be fighting the advancing radical jihadists near Mosul.

No Surrender's president, Klaas Otto, told Dutch TV station NOS that three members from Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Breda were currently in Northern Iraq. Kurdish television has also shown a Dutchmen on camera, lamenting how under pressure the Kurdish forces are, and saying how he had come to help.

The group's Facebook page does not seem to mention the voyage of some of their members, mainly consisting of pictures of the men on bikes or swilling pints.

The Netherlands' public prosecutor has said the men would not be punished for joining the Kurdish fighters, but would have been committing a criminal act only for joining IS, also known as ISIL and ISIS.

"Joining a foreign armed force was previously punishable, now it's no longer forbidden," public prosecutor spokesman Wim de Bruin told AFP. "You just can't join a fight against the Netherlands. The big difference with IS is that it's listed as a terrorist group. That means that even preparing to join IS is punishable."

He added that the members of No Surrender are not exempt from prosecution if they commit war crimes, murder or rape, but added that it would "very difficult to prove" in a Dutch court.

Any travel to take part in an overseas conflict could be considered an offence in Britain, under both criminal and terror laws. A Home Office spokesperson told HuffPost UK that all travel to Syria and parts of Iraq is advised against.

"Even people travelling for well-intentioned humanitarian reasons are exposing themselves to serious risk," she said. "The best way to help the people of these countries is to donate to registered charities that have ongoing relief operations.”

Kurds in Iraq

Islamic State Beheadings As a Tactic(01 of19)

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2014, file photo, a Kurdish peshmerga soldier prays at a battle field in Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, after Kurdish fighters took control of the northern village from the Islamic State group. The group has released videos or pictures of beheadings of Kurdish fighters, including nine this past week who were captured in clashes near the Syria-Turkey border. All the images came out after the Islamic State group was attacked or suffered setbacks in Kurdish areas in northern Iraq and Syria. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Mideast Iraq Kurds Waiting for Weapons(02 of19)

Iraqi Kurdish soldiers pause from combat to make tea near to the front line in Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, a day after they took control of the village from the Islamic State group, as they patrol on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014. Iraqi Kurdish fighters on the front lines of battle say they have yet to receive the heavy weapons and training pledged by the United States and nearly a dozen other countries to help them push back the Sunni militants. Without more sophisticated weaponry, the Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga, have had to rely on aging arms like the Soviet-era cannons, a centerpiece of the offensive Tuesday to retake Mahmoudiyah. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Mideast Iraq Kurds Waiting for Weapons(03 of19)

Kurdish peshmerga forces stand by their vehicles in Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, a day after they take control of the village from the Islamic State group, as they patrol on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014. Iraqi Kurdish fighters on the front lines of battle say they have yet to receive the heavy weapons and training pledged by the United States and nearly a dozen other countries to help them push back the Sunni militants. Without more sophisticated weaponry, the Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga, have had to rely on aging arms like the Soviet-era cannons, a centerpiece of the offensive Tuesday to retake Mahmoudiyah. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Mideast Iraq Kurds Waiting for Weapons(04 of19)

A Kurdish peshmerga soldier prays at a battle field in Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, where Kurdish fighters took control from the Islamic State group on Tuesday, as they patrol in the northern village on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014. Iraqi Kurdish fighters on the front lines of battle say they have yet to receive the heavy weapons and training pledged by the United States and nearly a dozen other countries to help them push back the Sunni militants. Without more sophisticated weaponry, the Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga, have had to rely on aging arms like the Soviet-era cannons, a centerpiece of the offensive Tuesday to retake Mahmoudiyah. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Mideast Iraq Kurds Waiting for Weapons(05 of19)

Kurdish peshmerga soldiers eat their food at a battle field a day after they take control of Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, from Islamic State militants, while patrolling in the northern village on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014. Iraqi Kurdish fighters on the front lines of battle say they have yet to receive the heavy weapons and training pledged by the United States and nearly a dozen other countries to help them push back the Sunni militants. Without more sophisticated weaponry, the Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga, have had to rely on aging arms like the Soviet-era cannons, a centerpiece of the offensive Tuesday to retake Mahmoudiyah. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Mideast Iraq Kurds Waiting for Weapons(06 of19)

Kurdish peshmerga fighters stand guard on the front line with the Islamic State group, as they patrol in Rabia, northwestern Iraq, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014. Iraqi Kurdish fighters on the front lines of battle say they have yet to receive the heavy weapons and training pledged by the United States and nearly a dozen other countries to help them push back the Sunni militants. Without more sophisticated weaponry, the Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga, have had to rely on aging arms like the Soviet-era cannons, a centerpiece of the offensive Tuesday to retake Mahmoudiyah. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Mideast Iraq Kurds Waiting for Weapons(07 of19)

Kurdish peshmerga forces stand by their armed vehicles in Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, a day after they take control of the village from the Islamic State group, as they patrol on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014. Iraqi Kurdish fighters on the front lines of battle say they have yet to receive the heavy weapons and training pledged by the United States and nearly a dozen other countries to help them push back the Sunni militants. Without more sophisticated weaponry, the Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga, have had to rely on aging arms like the Soviet-era cannons, a centerpiece of the offensive Tuesday to retake Mahmoudiyah. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Mideast Iraq Kurds Waiting for Weapons(08 of19)

Iraqi Kurdish soldiers pause from combat to make tea near to the front line in Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, a day after they take control of the village from the Islamic State group, as they patrol on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014. Iraqi Kurdish fighters on the front lines of battle say they have yet to receive the heavy weapons and training pledged by the United States and nearly a dozen other countries to help them push back the Sunni militants. Without more sophisticated weaponry, the Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga, have had to rely on aging arms like the Soviet-era cannons, a centerpiece of the offensive Tuesday to retake Mahmoudiyah. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Mideast Iraq Kurds Waiting for Weapons(09 of19)

A peshmerga fighter prepares food in Mahmoudiyah, northwestern Iraq, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014. Iraqi Kurdish fighters on the front lines of battle say they have yet to receive the heavy weapons and training pledged by the United States and nearly a dozen other countries to help them push back the Sunni militants. Without more sophisticated weaponry, the Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga, have had to rely on aging arms like the Soviet-era cannons, a centerpiece of the offensive Tuesday to retake Mahmoudiyah. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Mideast Iraq Kurds Waiting for Weapons(10 of19)

Kurdish peshmerga forces stand by their armed vehicles in Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, a day after they take control of the village from the Islamic State group, as they patrol on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014. Iraqi Kurdish fighters on the front lines of battle say they have yet to receive the heavy weapons and training pledged by the United States and nearly a dozen other countries to help them push back the Sunni militants. Without more sophisticated weaponry, the Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga, have had to rely on aging arms like the Soviet-era cannons, a centerpiece of the offensive Tuesday to retake Mahmoudiyah. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Kurdish peshmergas position against ISIL in Kirkuk(11 of19)

KIRKUK, IRAQ - OCTOBER 14: A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter is seen as he hold a position on the front line against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Kirkuk in northern Iraq, on October 14, 2014. (Photo by Ali Mukarrem Garip / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Kurdish peshmergas position against ISIL in Kirkuk(12 of19)

KIRKUK, IRAQ - OCTOBER 14: Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are seen as they hold a position on the front line against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Kirkuk in northern Iraq, on October 14, 2014. (Photo by Ali Mukarrem Garip / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Mideast Iraq(13 of19)

Wounded Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers are brought in ambulances to a makeshift clinic following fierce battles with Islamic State group militants in nearby Nineveh province, near Dahuk, 260 miles (420 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

IRAQ-CONFLICT-KURDS(14 of19)

A picture taken on October 14, 2014 a Kurdish flag fluttering at a position hold by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in front of the Mullah Abdullah bridge which separates them from Islamic State (IS) militants, 25 kilometres southwest of Kirkuk. Military commanders from the United States and its allies will hold talks Tuesday on the fight against jihadists in Syria and Iraq, after air strikes failed to stop their advance. AFP PHOTO / MARWAN IBRAHIM (Photo credit should read MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MARWAN IBRAHIM via Getty Images)

IRAQ-CONFLICT-KURDS(15 of19)

A picture taken on October 14, 2014 shows a flag of the Islamic State (IS) group fluttering across a river that separates IS militants from the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, 25 kilometres, southwest of Kirkuk. Military commanders from the United States and its allies will hold talks Tuesday on the fight against jihadists in Syria and Iraq, after air strikes failed to stop their advance. AFP PHOTO / MARWAN IBRAHIM (Photo credit should read MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MARWAN IBRAHIM via Getty Images)

Kurdish peshmerga prepares a mechanism to defuse land mines laid by ISIL(16 of19)

ARBIL, IRAQ - OCTOBER 14: A Kurdish peshmerga lays cable of a mechanism to defuse the land mines found during the search for land mines laid by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) militants during withdrawal of the ISIL in Arbil, Iraq on October 14, 2014. (Photo by Hamit Huseyin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Kurdish peshmerga's equipment for defusion for the land mines(17 of19)

ARBIL, IRAQ - OCTOBER 14: Kurdish peshmerga's equipment for defusion for the land mines found during the search for land mines laid by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) militants during withdrawal of the ISIL in Arbil, Iraq on October 14, 2014. (Photo by Hamit Huseyin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

IRAQ-KURDS-CONFLICT(18 of19)

Turkish Kurdish singer Gulistan Perwer (C) performs for Kurdish Peshmerga fighters on the front line during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha in the Gwer district, 40 kilometres south of Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq, on October 5, 2014. In a statement, US Central Command said the US military carried out three air strikes in Syria on Saturday, while fighter jets, bombers and helicopters were used in six assaults against the Islamic State group in Iraq on Sunday. AFP PHOTO/SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:SAFIN HAMED via Getty Images)

IRAQ-KURDS-CONFLICT(19 of19)

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter man a firing position on the front line in the Gwer district, 40 kilometres south of Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq, on October 5, 2014. In a statement, US Central Command said the US military carried out three air strikes in Syria on Saturday, while fighter jets, bombers and helicopters were used in six assaults against the Islamic State group in Iraq on Sunday. AFP PHOTO/SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:SAFIN HAMED via Getty Images)

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