Outlaw bikers fight IS in Iraq

No Surrender ... a Dutch bikie flashes the victory sign alongside a new Kurdish comrade in Iraq. Picture Twitter Source: Supplied

THEY put their motorcycle boots on the ground.

Outlaw Dutch bikers have joined forces with Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State militants in Iraq — and authorities in the Netherlands say that's just fine with them.

Klaas Otto, head of the No Surrender motorcycle club, told Dutch broadcasters that three members from the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Breda recently joined the fight outside Mosul in northern Iraq, Agence France-Presse said.

A photo on a Dutch-Kurdish Twitter account showed one of the men — a heavily tattooed Dutchman named Ron — clad in military garb, holding a Kalashnikov assault rifle and flashing the "victory" sign as he sits with a Kurdish comrade in a fortified bunker.

"Ron from The Netherlands has joined the Kurds to exterminate the rodents of [Islamic State]," text with the photo reads.

No Surrender is one of the Netherlands' biggest motorcycle clubs, with membership rivalling that of the Dutch Hells Angels' chapter.

And, unlike Dutch citizens who might side with Islamic State jihadis in the fight, the bikers would face no punishment from the Dutch government — because they are not committing a crime.

"Joining a foreign armed force was previously punishable. Now it's no longer forbidden," said Wim de Bruin, a spokesman for the Dutch public prosecutor. "You just can't join a fight against the Netherlands."

European countries, including the Netherlands, have cracked down on citizens teaming up with the Islamic State group, who have captured wide swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Authorities have confiscated the would-be jihadis' passports before they travelled and threatened to prosecute them for war crimes if they returned.

"The big difference with [Islamic State] is that it's listed as a terrorist group," Mr de Bruin said. "That means that even preparing to join [Islamic State] is punishable."

Supporters quickly took to Twitter to hail the new grizzled heroes.

"Dutch bikers strapping it with the Kurds has made my day," posted one Twitter user called modn world from West London.

"Looking forward to the Deadliest Warriors special — Dutch Bikers vs The Islamic State," added Brown Moses in a reference to the cancelled Spike TV show.

But a video on the club's YouTube page raises questions about just how battle-ready No Surrender may be.

The video shows mostly middle-aged, paunchy men, many of them shirtless, cavorting with topless dancers to the gang's theme song, No Surrender Is Here to Stay.

This story first appeared on NYPost.com.

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