Irish backpackers end up on frontline in IRAQ after boozy night out with Canadian soldier
William Meara, 26, and Craig Reynolds, 24, befriended Kurds fighting ISIS
A PAIR of Irish backpackers were left terrified after finding themselves on the front line in IRAQ following a boozy night with a Canadian freedom fighter.
William Meara, 26, and Craig Reynolds, 24, had been travelling in the Middle East for two months when they befriended a group of Kurds fighting ISIS, the Irish Independent reported.
The two Dublin natives say they were introduced to a Canadian freedom fighter while drinking in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan. The soldier then took them to Daquq, where Peshmerga forces are based, the following day.
The pair, who are for refugees fleeing Mosul, were then taken to a bunker targeted by an ISIS sniper just a week earlier - on a trip which has seen them branded "naive" by security experts.
Shocking pictures, posted on the travellers' blog Ready For Road , show them posing with guns and the Kurdish fighters - who have proved a crucial US ally in the fight against ISIS.
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William told the Irish Independent: "We must have said something when we were out with him the night before and that's how he got the idea.
"Before we knew it we were meeting all of these high-profile officials. There was a commander of the local area with us.
"It was absolutely terrifying to be honest. It was probably one of the scariest things I've ever done."
He added: "People are terrified to consider places in the middle east like Pakistan, Iran and Iraq but apart from face-to-face conflict, most of it is completely safe."
Meanwhile, Craig praised his hosts' hospitality, saying: "I've really learnt what it's like on the ground and what people go through here. It's not easy yet everyone will meet you with a smile warmer than the sun."
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