They were there before back in the old days when the Shah was backing the Kurds from Iran. And as Bill points out, you can run into them in the "strangest" places. They were in southern Sudan in the late 60s and early 70s. I worked with them (as contractors) in Zaire and if you remember there were numerous reports on their activities as mercenaries training drug cartel militias in South America in the 80s and 90s.

So while it sounds strange and may be pure "BS," I would not rule it out entirely.

Best
Tom