The PKK terrorist organization's Syrian wing, the YPG, has kidnapped another minor for forced recruitment in northwestern Syria, a local Kurdish opposition group announced on Tuesday.
The victim, identified as T.H., is a 15-year-old suffering from hydrocephalus caused by fluid accumulation in the brain. The minor was kidnapped by the terrorists in the Manbij district of Aleppo province, Redor al-Ahmed, the spokesperson of the Independent Kurdish Neighborhood, told Anadolu Agency (AA).
The YPG/PKK often abducts young people and children and sends them to terrorist training camps for armed training, barring them from communicating with their families.
The YPG/PKK has been intensifying child abduction cases recently and kidnapped some six children in October to get more fighters, al-Ahmed previously said following a similar case in early November.
In the 2021 Children and Armed Conflicts report published this July, the U.N. General Secretariat said the terrorist group added 221 children to its ranks in 2021.
It also said the terrorist "Internal Security Forces," affiliated with the YPG/PKK, abducted 24 children in the same year.
The YPG/PKK killed 55 children in Syria in 2021, while the "Afrin Liberation Forces" and "Internal Public Order Forces" affiliated with the terrorist group, killed 18 children.
Local people living in areas held by the YPG/PKK have long suffered from its atrocities, as the terrorist organization has a notorious record of human rights violations, ranging from kidnappings, recruitment of child soldiers, torture, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in Syria. The YPG/PKK has forced young people from areas under its control to join its terrorist forces within the so-called "compulsory conscription in the duty of self-defense."
Since its foundation, the PKK has forcibly taken at least one child from families that fail to "pay taxes" to support the group. To fill its ranks, the PKK has continuously raided villages and kidnapped young adults aged 15 to 20 through violent means.
Besides forced "conscription," the PKK also carries out propaganda campaigns targeting university students. The terrorist group's approach has remained consistent, according to statements by captured or surrendered members of the organization.
The YPG/PKK continues to recruit minors despite signing an agreement with the U.N. for their release.
