A Moray man who left home to fight IS on the frontline in Iraq fears his mission is at risk – as he survives in the Middle East with just £250 left in his pocket.
Alan Duncan, 46, a former solider with the British Army, claimed he “had given everything up” to travel to the conflict zone but said that financial reality of his efforts had kicked in.
He has fundraised around £3,000 online to cover the costs of his trip – including equipment and his air fare – but said that was quickly running out given his day-to-day living expenses.
Mr Duncan claims he has been in “full combat” with IS on the frontline during a trip to Syria last year and now in Iraqi Kurdistan.
He is currently waiting for official clearance from the Kurdistan Regional Government to join its Peshmerga forces, which could see him earn a modest wage if he is approved to fight.
However, he said he was now taking it “day-to-day” given the financial pressures he is now facing and said he would “gutted” if he had no option but to return home.
Mr Duncan said: “A lot of people think we are being paid out here but that is just not the case. I am not a mercenary and we just do not receive money for what we are doing.
“To be honest, I am probably nearer the breadline than most people on the dole back home. I am really relying on the generosity of the Kurdish people and my donors right now.
When asked if he was worried about his situation, he said: “Yes I am worried. To be honest I am taking it day-by-day. Obviously I would be gutted if I had to come home as I feel that I would be leaving something, leaving a place that really need me.”
Mr Duncan, who ran his own windows company until September 2013, said he left Scotland with around £500 worth of US dollars in his pocket last December when he traveled to Syria.
The fighting group there covered all his expenses but he said his second trip to Kurdistan is self-funded – apart from his accommodation, weapons and ammunition.
Mr Duncan has previously spoken out about people posing as foreign volunteer fighters to scam money through internet fundraising pages.
The soldier, who served with the Royal Irish Regiment and Queen’s Own Highlanders in Northern Ireland and the Gulf, said he received a £250-a-month pension from the British Army but that he still had bills to cover at home.
A spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government was unavailable for comment last night.
