On Tuesday morning, the Internal Security Directorate of Aleppo province lifted the curfew in the city of Kobani after the operation was completed and calm was restored. According to official data, 19 security personnel were wounded and seven people were detained on suspicion of organizing the unrest. The restrictions were imposed on Monday evening after an administrative building was attacked during protests in the city in the eastern countryside of Aleppo.
According to the authorities, rioters damaged the Kobani district administration building, removed its sign, and lowered the national flag at the headquarters of the internal security forces. Security forces were deployed in greater numbers in the city, located near the Turkish border, to arrest the attackers, protect property, and restore order. The authorities said that attacks on state institutions and their symbols were unacceptable.
The unrest followed reports of attacks on displaced Kurds returning to the Ras al-Ayn area of Hasakah province. Kurdish representatives accused armed groups of carrying out the attacks. The authorities said that a number of suspects had been detained and warned that the incidents must not be used to incite sectarian strife. The return of more than 400 families to the countryside around Ras al-Ayn was temporarily suspended for security reasons, but officials promised it would resume after the necessary procedures were completed.
At the same time, internal security buildings in Hasakah and Qamishli were attacked, and law-enforcement personnel were assaulted inside one of the facilities. Patrols were increased in the cities to contain tensions and preserve civil peace. The deputy commander of Hasakah’s internal security forces and Mazloum Abdi, leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces, condemned the attacks. The authorities stressed that they were seeking to prevent local incidents from developing into a wider conflict.
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Why are Kobani and other areas of northeastern Syria particularly important to the Kurdish population and the Syrian Democratic Forces? — Kobani became a symbol of Kurdish resistance after the battles against the Islamic State in 2014–2015. Northeastern Syria is also the main center of Kurdish political and military influence, where Kurdish self-governing institutions operate and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed, Kurdish-led coalition, are based. For Kurds, the region is associated with protecting their communities, political autonomy, and control over territories they regard as historically significant; for the SDF, it is linked to maintaining its defensive positions and influence.
Why is the return of displaced Kurdish families to the Ras al-Ayn area considered an especially sensitive issue from the perspective of security and intercommunal relations? — Ras al-Ayn, known in Kurdish as Sere Kaniye, became an area of population displacement after Turkey’s 2019 operation and the subsequent transfer of control to Syrian armed groups backed by Turkey. Many Kurdish families left the area, and its demographic composition changed. Their return is connected with concerns about security, possible seizures of homes and land, revenge, and new clashes between Kurds, Arabs, and other communities. The process therefore requires security guarantees, the resolution of property disputes, and the consent of local authorities and the armed forces controlling the territory.
Full version: Syria... Authorities Announce Calm Has Returned to Ayn al-Arab Amid Warnings of Strife