According to a local source, a Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) struck a block post and a car belonging to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) armed groups in al-Hasakah, northeastern Syria.

The source told Sputnik that "A Turkish UAV struck a block post and an SDF car parked nearby. According to preliminary information, there are no casualties and the block post guards could have been lightly wounded."

The attacked block post is located in the US occupation al-Shadadi base in the southern northeastern countryside of al-Hasakah, Syria. The block post's operations resumed shortly after the strike, the source added.

The US support for the SDF has been a source of tension with Turkey, a NATO ally, which has stationed its forces in northeast Syria under the justification of combating militant groups hostile to Ankara.

Turkey perceives the SDF as linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a banned organization in Turkey that has fought for independence for decades and is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US, and the European Union.

Since March 2011, Syria has experienced ongoing war and devastation supported by the US and its allies.

In recent years, Syrian government forces have successfully regained control of nearly all territories previously held by terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, the US military has positioned troops and equipment in northeastern Syria, citing claims to prevent ISIS from seizing oil fields in the region, preventing Damascus from accessing its wealth.

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US admits ally SDF 'forcibly' recruiting child soldiers in Syria

Last month, The administration of US President Joe Biden acknowledged that its ally, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is forcibly recruiting child soldiers to fight against the democratically-elected government in Damascus.

According to a new report titled "2024 Trafficking in Persons Report: Syria" from the US State Department, the SDF is listed among terrorist groups involved in the crime of using child soldiers, alongside ISIS and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), previously known as al-Nusra Front.

"The recruitment or use of children in combat and support roles in Syria remains common, and since the beginning of 2018 international observers reported continued incidents of recruitment and use by armed groups, though the prevalence of the practice differs by group," the report said.

The State Department emphasized that the armed outfits "recruit and/or use boys and girls as child soldiers."

The report stated that the SDF was carrying out a UN Security Council-mandated action plan to stop the recruitment and use of child soldiers and to demobilize those already in its ranks. However, an international organization reported that SDF-affiliated armed groups continued to recruit and use children in 2022 and 2023.

The US State Department said that the HTS and ISIS "used children as human shields, suicide bombers, snipers, and executioners," while some armed groups "use children for forced labor and as informants, exposing them to retaliation and extreme punishment."

The report also identified the so-called "Revolutionary Youth Movement" as a "militant Kurdish group that continues to recruit children in northeast Syria through deceptive offers of educational courses."

It is worth noting that Antonio Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, reported to the UN Security Council at the end of last year that 2990 children aged nine to 17 had been recruited in Syria. Among them, 829 were recruited by SDF militias.

Guterres highlighted in his report that despite the SDF militias signing an agreement with the United Nations in 2019 to cease recruiting individuals under 18 years old and establishing offices in their controlled areas for this purpose, the recruitment of children by SDF and PYD militants surged by 80% in the last two years.