PKK release three Kurdish youth after over 10 days in detention

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Three young Kurds were released on Tuesday following their capture by members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), having spent over 10 days in the group’s custody.

The youth, identified as Omar Abdullah Mahmoud, 23, Halgurd Hamadamin Abdullah, 23, and Dana Khidr Hamza, 17, are all from the Warte district in Rwanduz town.

Over the past days, and what at first seemed to no avail, their families and officials from the area had been contacting the PKK to release the youth.

Reporting from Soran, Kurdistan 24 correspondent Tayfur Mohammed said vigorous attempts by their families and security and administrative authorities in the region led to the release of the young detainees.

Before releasing the three youth, the PKK members asked them to pledge not to talk to the media or their families about the details of their capture, Mohammed added.

The reporter said the three young men were held in a prison belonging to the Kurdish rebel group in the Qandil Mountains.

The group arrested the youth on June 2 in Erbil’s Rawanduz town after they had visited Mount Karokh to gather mushrooms, according to family members.

In recent months, Turkish forces have stepped up armed action against PKK fighters within the Kurdistan Region, including building outposts and military access roads.

They have crossed up to 20 kilometers deep in some areas of the region to target the Kurdish guerilla fighters, and bombardment from Turkish jets occasionally result in the death of civilians unaffiliated with the PKK.

Kurdistan Regional Government officials, including Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, have repeatedly asked the PKK to leave the area as well as requesting Turkey to stop bombing within its borders.