New testimonies shed light on the extent of rampant child abuse among the ranks of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization in northern Iraq.
The testimonies, given by PKK terrorists who had surrendered to Turkish authorities, reveal scandalous details surrounding the terror group’s sexual abuse of young girls in the so-called “child battalion” in the Zap region of northern Iraq.
The battalion, formed by the PKK, is made up of close to 30 children aged between nine and 14.
According to the testimonies, a number of the girls in the group were raped, and those who fall pregnant are brought to the nearest hospital and made to undergo abortions despite the enormous risks to their lives.
Girls unable to cope with the trauma of what they experienced are said to regularly attempt suicide.
Another terrorist, who defected from the PKK terrorist organization for these inhumane practices, admitted to witnessing sexual abuse of underage girls, some of whom would later commit suicide or be executed by the terror group.
These types of horrific practices are said to have significantly increased the defection rate among the ranks of the PKK and contributed to so-called Qandil leaders losing their influence within the terror group.
Northern Iraq’s Qandil Mountains have been a haven for PKK terrorists over the past few decades. Considered as the main base of the PKK, which control checkpoints and entrances to the mountains, the structuring in the area is used for cover and concealment by terrorists.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
