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UK counter-terror fighters freed, Foreign Office confirms

The Foreign Office has declared that two anti-ISIL fighters from the UK and one from Ireland, have been freed after being detained on their way home. Jack Holmes, Joe Ackerman and Joshua Molloy were held in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq as they attempted to make their way home. The three men were detained for over a week in a prison in Erbil, while officials met to help secure their release. It is understood that the soldiers had been waiting on the border between Syria and Iraq for several weeks waiting to cross. However, as they made their way to another point on the politically sensitive zone, there were arrested and informed they were crossing Iraq illegally. In an interview with the BBC, Holmes commented on his release: "It feels good to finally be out, hopefully no more trouble and we'll be on the way home soon." A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "We are helping two British men make arrangements to leave [Iraqi] Kurdistan after they were released from custody." Confirming the release of Molloy, a former Royal Irish Regiment soldier, Charlie Flanagan, Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister, said: "I welcome Joshua's release and I am pleased that he is now on his way home to join his family in Ireland."

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