US-backed PKK/YPG terror group kidnaps another minor in northern Syria

By Omer Koparan

ALEPPO, Syria (AA) – The US-backed terrorist organization PKK/YPG kidnapped yet another minor in Syria’s northern Aleppo province, locals said on Monday.

The 13-year-old girl abducted in the Sheikh Maqsood district will probably be used by the terrorist group as a child fighter, in violation of international laws against using minors in combat.

The terrorist PKK/YPG forbids these detained children from ever communicating with their families again.

Reports by human rights groups and the UN say that the terror group, which is supported by the US, abducts these children and takes them to camps for armed training.

Children who are forced to take part in armed training are used in the organization's terrorist activities. Images and news about "child fighters" also appeared on several of its propaganda social media sites.

-1,200 abductions in 2022

The US, which talks about democracy and human rights, is increasing its cooperation with the PKK/YPG in Syria, which has a documented track record for terrorist crimes.

The country provides financial and political support to the terrorist group, which separates hundreds of children from their families and equips them with light and heavy weapons to take part in terrorist activities.

The UN’s 2022 Children in Annual Armed Conflicts report said the PKK terror group and its Syrian extensions the YPG and SDF had used more than 1,200 children as “soldiers” in 2022.

According to the report, the YPG-dominated SDF recruited 637 children, while the PKK/YPG and SDF-affiliated groups recruited 633 children to their armed ranks

In the report, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told how “extremely concerned” he feels about the use of children as "soldiers" by the PKK/YPG.

“I invite them to stop using children as soldiers and for different purposes and release all the children in their ranks,” the report quoted him as saying.

A January 2020 UN Human Rights Council report said that PKK/YPG terrorists are using children as "fighters" in Syria.

The terror group forcing children to fight was also mentioned in the US State Department’s June 2020 Human Trafficking Report.

The YPG continued to forcibly recruit and use even 12-year-old boys and girls from asylum camps in northwestern Syria, the report said.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the terrorist PKK's Syrian branch.

*Writing by Merve Berker in Ankara