The PKK terrorist group’s Syrian offshoot YPG is accused of kidnapping three children to forcefully recruit them as soldiers in northern Syria.
Two 14-year-olds, known as M.A.H. and A.F, were abducted on Tuesday from the Manbij district of Syria’s Aleppo province, Redor al-Ahmed, spokesperson for the opposition group, “Independent Kurdish Order,” told Anadolu Agency (AA).
He said the terrorist group on Tuesday also kidnapped a 15-year-old Z.S. from the Sheikh Maqsood district of Aleppo.
The YPG/PKK abducts or detains young people and children away from their families and trains them in training camps to become fighters, which violates the agreement with the U.N.
The YPG/PKK recruited more than 1,200 children in 2022, according to a U.N. report.
“I am extremely concerned about the use of children as soldiers by the PKK,” said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in June.
“I implore them to end the use of children as soldiers and to release all children in their ranks,” he added.
International law prohibits non-state armed groups from recruiting anyone under 18, and enlisting children under 15 is considered a war crime.
Though the PKK/YPG initially signed a pledge with Geneva Call – a Swiss humanitarian organization that works to “protect civilians in armed conflict” – to stop the use of child soldiers in 2014, its use of child soldiers has only increased since then.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S., and the EU, has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
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