Aiden Aslin arrested on return to UK

A Newark freedom fighter who battled ISIS has again been arrested on his return to the UK.

Aiden Aslin, 23, was arrested in his seat at 1.32am today after his flight from Athens landed at Manchester Airport.

His mother, Angela Wood, and grandmother, Pam Hall, told the Advertiser it was 6.53am before they received confirmation that Aiden had been detained.

Update, Tuesday, September 12: Aiden Aslin has been bailed until December 13.

Angela and Pam travelled to the Bridewell custody suite in Nottingham.

Angela said: "Aiden knew this was going to happen, just as it did last time.

"We persuaded him to come home and get everything over and done with.

"He's done nothing wrong so why should he not be able to come home? Why should he have to feel like he's on the run?

"Aiden was told by the police to stay in his seat and they waited until everyone else was off the plane before removing him."

Aiden predicted his arrest yesterday on Facebook following dialogue with Nottinghamshire Police.

In a statement the force said today: "A man has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences.

"The 23-year-old was arrested following claims he had allegedly engaged in the preparation to fight against Daesh (another term for ISIS) and possessed articles for terrorist purposes in Iraq/Syria.

"He will be interviewed by specialist officers later today (Monday, September 11).”

Aiden, a former care worker, first left the UK for Syria and Iraq in April 2015.

He said he had joined the fight against ISIS after being sickened by its barbarism and abuse of Kurdish people.

Fears over arrest

When he returned in February 2016 he was arrested on a plane at Heathrow Airport. He remained on police bail until October of that year during an investigation into what he had been doing in the Middle East.

His bail conditions meant he had to report to Newark Police Station three times a week and could not travel abroad. No charges were brought.

His detention attracted protests from the Kurdish community in the UK.

Aiden left the UK for a second time in January this year to join the battle to take Raqqa from ISIS.

He departed after his passport was returned to him by Nottinghamshire Police.

Aiden told the Advertiser last month that he feared he would not be able to return to the UK without being arrested.

He had been doing humanitarian work in Greece since leaving Syria after seven months with Kurdish forces who have been battling ISIS.

The last military operation he was involved in since rejoining Kurdish forces this year was the battle for Tabqa, where he told the Advertiser there was little fighting but there was a constant threat from car bombs.

“I’m done with Britain’s treatment towards us when I was in Rojava (the Kurdish name for the region in which he was based)," Aiden told the Advertiser last month.

He had intended to return on July 16 and armed police boarded that flight to arrest him. He was not on the plane after changing his mind.

Newark MP Robert Jenrick has previously sought clarity from the Government on Aiden's position.

The Home Office leaves it to individual police forces to decide what to do when non-military personnel return from war.

The UK remains on heightened terror alert after the London and Manchester terror attacks.