The Kurdish milita People's Protection Unit (YPG) is accusing a refugee fleeing to Europe of having ties to Syria's al-Qaeda wing Nusra Front, but the asylum seeker has already been in the international spotlight for a different reason.
Last month, a video emerged showing Hungarian camerawoman Petra Laszlo tripping a fleeing refugee running from Hungarian police with a crowd of other migrants. The upsetting video went viral, enshrining the journalist as an example of the worst kind of inhumanity in Europe's escalating refugee crisis, not to mention ending her career.
Public support poured out for the refugee, who was later identified as Osama Abdul Mohsen of Daesh (ISIS) held Deir Ezzor, Syria. Earlier this week, he and his children were welcomed to Spain by footballers from Real Madrid. To media outlets, Mohsen described a harrowing journey out of Syria with his 7-year-old son in the hopes of reaching Europe.
But now the YPG is calling on the Spanish government to take action against the Syrian, who they say has fought since 2011 with various groups, including al Nusra.
In a statement this week, the Kurdish militia said the following:
“Osama Abdul joined the rebel groups in 2011 and committed crimes against civilian minorities, including Kurds."
The statement claimed to have linked a social media account of a Nusra militant with the photo of Mohsen.
But it's important to note, this is hardly the first time parties have accused refugees of being part of militant groups like Daesh and Nusra. On social media, Europe's refugee surge has been rife with claims of asylum seekers not being what they seem. So far, most of those have been debunked.
