Vorwurf: PKK rekrutiert weiter Kindersoldaten

Der Vorwurf ist keineswegs neu, sondern wird seit Jahren gegen PKK und ihre syrische Schwesterorganisation PYD erhoben: Sie rekrutierten zwangsweise Kindersoldaten. 2015 wurde sie dehalb ausdrücklich auch von der entsprechenden UN-Behörde kritisiert.

All dies scheint wenig Früchte getragen zu haben, glaubt man dem Syrian Observatory for Human Rights oder dem letzten Bericht des US-State Departments.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has recently kidnapped more children from areas in Syrian Kurdistan, also known as Rojava, and transferred them to Qandil and Sinjar mountains so as to recruit them, local sources revealed on Tuesday.

An organization linked to the PKK, named the “Revolutionary Youth”, has transferred a number of children who have been trained in a military base in Hasakah to areas in the Yezidi majority populated region of Sinjar and Qandil mountains, the sources said.

"The PKK has transferred 11 children from Kabka base in villages of Hasakah province to the training bases in the mountains of Sinjar and Qandil, six of who are girls."

The PKK is known for its strict policy of killing its members in case they are found attempting to abandon the party, dozens of such cases have often been seen in various areas in Qandil region, particularly.

Last year, Maryam Khidir, the mother of a 13-year-old girl who had been kidnapped by a PKK-affiliated group in Iranian Kurdistan, revealed that her daughter had been killed by the armed group after she attempted to leave the party.

The so-called "Revolutionary Youth" of the PKK has so far recruited dozens of children in Syrian Kurdistan since the beginning of this year.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had previously expressed concerns over the continuation of underage recruitment by the PKK-affiliated groups in northeast of Syria.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Shamo, a well-known Yezidi public figure in Sinjar, told BasNews a few days ago that they often hear stories of child abductions by the PKK in the region.