TAL ABYAD

The PKK/YPG terrorist organization recently kidnapped a boy in northern Syria to recruit him into their armed ranks, an opposition spokesperson said.

The 14-year-old was kidnapped on June 7 from the Ayn al-Arab (Kobani) district in Aleppo province, Redor al-Ahmed, spokesperson for the opposition Independent Kurdish Rabita group, told Anadolu.

The minors kidnapped by the terror group are not allowed to communicate with their parents, he said.

The terror group usually takes the abducted children to terror camps for armed training. It has kidnapped more than 30 children since the beginning of the year to recruit them in the areas it has occupied in Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Al-Hasakah provinces.

The use of children as armed combatants is expressly forbidden under international humanitarian law and is defined as a war crime.

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

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara