Human Rights Watch says Kurdish party ruling Syria's northern enclaves has committed abuses

BEIRUT – An international watchdog says Kurdish authorities ruling three enclaves in northeastern Syria have committed abuses, included arbitrary arrests of political opponents.

Human Rights Watch says the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD, has abused its opponents in detention and failed to address abductions and murders in areas under its control.

The New York-based group in a report released Tuesday also documents the use of children in the PYD's police and armed wing.

Kurds are Syria largest ethnic minority. The PYD is affiliated with the Kurdish movement PKK in Turkey, which long fought for autonomy in the southeast.

In Syria, the PYD declared its own administration in the northern Kurdish areas in 2012 after driving out Islamic militant fighters allied with rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar Assad from power.