PKK/YPG terror group abducts minor in Syria

By Omer Koparan

RAQQA, Syria (AA) – The PKK/YPG terrorist organization abducted a 16-year-old boy in the Syrian province of Raqqa, sources told Anadolu on Sunday.

Having increased the number of its "checkpoints" on major roads and particularly in front of schools, the terror group has stepped up its forcible recruitment of minors across areas it controls, according to the sources.

It abducted 17 children in the northeaster district of Qamishli and northwestern district of Manbij on Wednesday and Thursday.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is its Syrian branch.

- Nearly 1,700 child fighters

The PKK/YPG has forcibly recruited 1,696 child fighters in Syria last year, according to a UN report.

The annual report on children in armed conflict said 32 children as young as 11 were also recruited in Iraq.

​​​​​​​UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also voiced concern on the matter in the report, urging the terror group to stop recruiting child fighters and release the ones in their ranks.