The PKK terrorist organization has long been known for carrying out violent methods of inflicting harm on innocent people. While abductions and killings may be a common tactic, the use of land mines is another that destroyed the lives of young, innocent children who were forced to be eyewitnesses to the crimes of those who have occupied their small town.
The dreams of two Syrian children, Iyad and Rinas, were shattered by the PKK's terrorism, when they were playing in their home's backyard in the northern Syrian town of Tal Abyad this week. A land mine planted by militants from the PKK's Syrian offshoot, the People's Protection Units (YPG), exploded, necessitating the amputation of 11-year-old Iyad's foot.
Iyad's sister Rinas also suffered injuries to her face from the explosion. Physical wounds weren't the only scar, as the little girl was also horribly traumatized.
The state hospital located at the Turkish border town of Akçakale has provided proper treatment for the two children, with medical staff rushing in to save them.
The children's home was not the only house subject to PKK's crimes, as many other homes in Tal Abyad have witnessed similar incidents and many civilians have been killed.
During the course of the Syrian civil war, the predominantly-Arab town of Tal Abyad was captured by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) on September 2012. Daesh terrorists took control of the town in January 2014, just prior to their offensive that gave them control over large swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory. Following Daesh's defeat on multiple fronts, including nearby Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), YPG terrorists went on the offensive with the support of the U.S.-led anti-Daesh coalition and captured the town in June 2015, establishing a vital link between the so-called Jazira and Kobani cantons in northern Syria while raising national security concerns in Ankara. Since the town's capture by the U.S.-backed YPG, however, thousands of locals were forced to move out of region in an apparent effort to change the demographics, while many political opponents were executed or killed.
Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring on Oct. 9 to clear YPG terrorists from its border and create a safe zone to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees. Tal Abyad and surrounding villages were liberated by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian National Army (SNA) on Oct.13, ending the four-year-long YPG occupation in the area.