PKK/PYD forcing teenagers to take up arms in Syria

By Muhammet Kursun

ERBIL, Iraq

The terrorist PKK/PYD group is forcing boys as young as 15 to fight in Syria, a Kurdish official said Monday.

Nuri Brimo, a senior official in the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDPS), said: “The PYD needs militants for clashes in Jarabulus, Manbij and other regions… The organization forces everyone between 15 and 45 to take up arms.

“The PYD hands over those people to Assad forces after giving them a 15 days training. After that they are sent to Aleppo or other regions in need to fight.”

Ibrahim Biro, leader of Kurdish National Council (KNC), said the terrorist PKK/PYD organization was pressuring Kurdish groups in northwest Syria such as the KDPS and the Kurdish Union Party.

Biro was arrested by the terror group Saturday before being released to the Kurdish Regional Government’s territory in northern Iraq.

In a statement on the KDPS website, he said at least 30 executives and members of the party were still imprisoned.

The party said dozens of its supporters had been forcibly recruited by the PKK/PYD.

“The PYD’s policies are not serving the interests of the Kurdish people,” it said in another statement and called on the international community to pressure the PKK/PYD to stop the practice.