The PKK terrorist group has reportedly killed 52 children who were recruited and later wanted to escape from fighting in the group's lines, a report quoting an intelligence source stated.
The PKK and its Syrian affiliate, the People's Protection Units (YPG), kill children who are tricked by members to join the terrorist organization, Turkey's Sabah daily reported yesterday, citing an intelligence service's report on children under the domination of the PKK as its main source.
The main reason behind the killings is reported to be the children's aim to flee the terrorist organization. The report expresses that the PKK is mostly denying the killings; however, when the terrorist organization was forced to reveal the names of the killed children, it lied and came up with claims that suggest the children were killed during operations of the Turkish military or that they drowned in a river.
According to the report, the PKK recruited more than a thousand children through tricks over the last five years. However, the report also reveals that the number is decreasing through the years. The report also includes the statements of 41 children between the ages of 15 and 17 who surrendered to security forces in the past year. The statements of the children show that they were not only tortured but also sexually abused during their time in the terrorist organization.
The forcible recruitment of children by the PKK and its affiliates is not a new phenomenon that takes place only in Turkey or Syria. The PKK also recruits children in Iraq's Mosul province, particularly children from Sinjar. The recruited children in Sinjar are mostly from Yazidi families.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), the spokesperson of the Mosul Arab tribes, Muzahim Ahmed al-Huveysi, said more than a hundred children have been recruited by the terrorist organization so far.
"These children are being sent to Syria to fight for the YPG after their training in Sinjar," said Huveysi, adding that the children that were recruited in Mosul and Sinjar are coming from different ethnic backgrounds.
In mid-2014, the PKK managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar on the pretext that it was protecting the local Yazidi community from Daesh. Since then, the PKK has reportedly established ground in Sinjar as a new base for its logistic and command-and-control activities.
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