Syrian children recount forced recruitment by terror group YPG/SDF

• Syrian minors detained while trying to reach Türkiye say they were beaten, fingerprinted, forced into political, military training before their release

HASAKAH, Syria

Two Syrian minors who were forcibly recruited by the terrorist organization YPG/SDF and later released following operations by the Syrian Army have told Anadolu that many children like them were held against their will in the group’s camps.

Recent operations by the Syrian Army against YPG/SDF have once again drawn attention to the terror group’s practice of forcibly recruiting children.

Images released by the organization of those killed in clashes with Syrian forces also revealed that many minors had been taken into its ranks.

Bekir Feyiz Beles and Husam Ibrahim Casim, two Syrian children who say they were forced into service by YPG/SDF, shared their stories with Anadolu.

Bekir is 16 years old and Husam is 17. Both are of Arab origin.

They said they were detained by the group in December 2025 while attempting to cross illegally into Türkiye to work, and were subsequently forced to take up arms in the northern Syrian city of Ayn al-Arab.

‘They took us to Hasakah and forced us to undergo military training’

Husam, who is from the Manbij district of the Aleppo province, said they were stopped at the border by YPG/SDF members while trying to cross into Türkiye via illegal routes from Ayn al-Arab.

After being held in Ayn al-Arab, Husam said they were forcibly recruited.

“They later took us to Hasakah and forced us to undergo military training. At gunpoint, they took our fingerprints. They pressured us and forced us into training. They gave us political training for a month. The military training lasted only a few days,” he said.

Husam added that many children like him were being held at gunpoint in the camp.

“Two or three of the people with us were around 25 years old. The rest were born in 2007, 2008, or 2009,” he said.

‘Most of those in camp were under 18’

Husam said members of the group beat them when they protested their treatment.

“We are all tribal children. We acted together there and protested. They forced all of us to the ground and started beating us,” he said.

Describing the conditions during his captivity, Husam continued: “I was in a very bad state and couldn’t sleep. The situation was terrible. It was very cold. There was no hot water. They wouldn’t even allow us to sleep comfortably.

“Those training us were Arabs from Hasakah. There were also Kurds among them. Most of those in the camp were under 18. Many of them wanted to escape.

“There were also Lebanese among us. A large number of them had been detained by the organization and brought there by force.”

Husam said that after the Syrian Army launched operations this month on both the western and eastern sides of the Euphrates River, YPG/SDF members withdrew from the area.

He said they were released at that time and surrendered to Syrian forces.

‘For 3 days, they gave us only bread and tomatoes’

Sixteen-year-old Bekir, who said he shared a similar fate with Husam, was also detained by the YPG/SDF in Ayn al-Arab and forcibly recruited.

Bekir, who is from the city of Homs, said that after being recruited, he was transferred from Ayn al-Arab to a camp in Raqqa, east of the Euphrates River, which had been under YPG/SDF control until shortly before the operation.

After Raqqa, Bekir said they were taken to Hasan Dervis, another area under the group’s control, where their fingerprints were forcibly taken, and they were subjected to training.

Recalling the harsh conditions in the camps, Bekir said: “There, in Raqqa, they pressured us and took our fingerprints. After Raqqa, they took us to Hasan Dervis. Later, they took us to the personal defense academy for training.

“We had lunch and were supposed to have dinner afterward. They told us there was no dinner and no water. For three days, they gave us only bread and tomatoes.”

Bekir said they attempted to escape the camp several times but were threatened with death.

“We tried to escape several times, but there were always sounds of aircraft in the sky. Around that time, members of the organization would come and scare us, threatening that they would shoot anyone who stepped outside the door,” he said.

Like Husam, Bekir said he regained his freedom after Syrian Army operations prompted YPG/SDF members to leave the areas they had occupied, after which he surrendered to Syrian forces.