PKK/YPG terror group kidnaps 3 children in Syria for militant recruitment

The terrorist organization PKK/YPG has kidnapped three children from Raqqa province and Manbij district in Syria to recruit them into its armed forces.

Redor al-Ahmed, spokesperson for the opposition Kurdish group “Independent Kurdish League,” reported that 13-year-old A.F.C. from Manbij and 14-year-old A.A.S. and 15-year-old M.A.A. from Raqqa were abducted by PKK/YPG militants.

Ahmed highlighted the terrorists are preventing the kidnapped children from contacting their families and are taking them to so-called training camps for armed training.

He noted that since the beginning of the year, the PKK/YPG had kidnapped over 35 children from the regions it occupies in Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah provinces to recruit them into its armed forces.

In 2023, the PKK/YPG forcibly recruited 231 children into its ranks in Syria. A U.N. report on “Children and Armed Conflict” for 2023 revealed that the terrorist organization PKK/YPG, operating under the name “SDF,” had forcibly recruited 231 children.

The report also stated that PKK/YPG and its affiliated groups killed or maimed eight children and converted 31 schools and hospitals for military purposes.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern in the report about the high number of grave violations against children in Syria, calling for adherence to international humanitarian and human rights law.

He also called for the unconditional and immediate release of all children, and an end to attacks on and the military use of schools and hospitals.