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

BEIRUT – An international rights group 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 has failed to address abductions and unresolved killings in areas it controls.

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

Kurds are Syria's largest ethnic minority. The PYD is affiliated with the Kurdish PKK movement in Turkey, which has long struggled for autonomy.

In Syria, the PYD declared its own administration in the northeastern Kurdish areas in 2012 after driving out Islamic rebels who are part of the broader opposition trying to overthrow the central government.