PKK/YPG kidnaps 16-year-old in northern Syria

The PKK/YPG terror group has abducted a 16-year-old girl in Syria's province of Aleppo to recruit her into its armed ranks, local sources have said.

E.S. was abducted by the terrorists while she was leaving school in the Eshrefiyye neighbourhood, which is under PKK/YPG occupation, Redor al Ahmed, spokesperson for the opposition Independent Kurdish Rabita group, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

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

The terror group usually takes the children kidnapped or detained to terror camps for armed training.

The PKK terrorist organisation has kidnapped more than 20 children since the beginning of the year to recruit them in the areas it has occupied in Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir Ezzor, 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 by the International Criminal Court.

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

The YPG is its Syrian offshoot.