YPG/PKK terrorists abduct 3 children in Syria
U.S.-backed YPG terrorists stand guard next to men waiting to be screened after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Daesh, near Baghouz, eastern Syria, Feb. 22, 2019. (AP File Photo)


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.