MESOP NEWS : PKK Recruits Children from Sinjar and Kirkuk to Use in Combat: US
ERBIL 24.8.2021 -The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), alongside the Islamic State (IS) and Iran-backed militias of Hashd al-Shaabi, continue to recruit and use children in combat or as human shields in armed conflicts, according to the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report by the US State Department.
The report said the PKK and its affiliated groups, including People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Sinjar Resistance Unit (YBS), were forcibly recruiting underages from Sinjar, Makhmour, and Kirkuk to be trained and used as child soldiers in the PKK armed conflicts.
“In 2021, an unverified source reported that the PKK recruited dozens of children to prepare them for combat, including children from Kirkuk, Iraq,” reads the report.
READ MORE: Syrian Kurdish Man Calls for Freedom of His Daughter Abducted by PKK
“Local NGOs reported in 2018 that Yezidi militias in Sinjar recruited approximately 10 to 20 Yezidi boys. NGO and local government contacts confirmed that hundreds of Yezidi children have been recruited by the PKK-aligned Yezidi Civil Protection Units (YPS) and other PKK-affiliated militias,” it added.
According to the sources cited by the report, the PKK sends recruited children to its bases in Sinjar, Turkey, and the Qandil Mountains between Iraq and Iran.
READ MORE: Second Case in Three Days: PKK Abducts 13-Year-Old Girl in Rojava
BasNews recently revealed that the PKK has stepped up forcibly recruiting, in some cases abducting, underages in the Syrian Kurdistan. A source confirmed that it has established a new training camp in Derik area to the west of Qamishlo, northeast of Syria on the border with Turkey, where the children are receiving military trainings before going to the frontlines.
In the last few weeks only, at least three children, aged between 13 and 15, were reported missing in the Syrian Kurdistan. Their families believe the PKK has recruited the children for its waging war against Turkey.
READ MORE: PKK Sets Up New Military Camp for Underage Recruits in Rojava
More www.mesop.de