ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Damascus-affiliated forces on Monday beheaded four Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria (Rojava) while hurling insults, according to a video published by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which described the act as “a heinous crime” committed in “the style of” the Islamic State (ISIS).
The SDF published a video that it said showed its captured fighters killed by advancing forces, accompanied by men speaking in Arabic. In the footage, at least four individuals in military uniforms are visible, while the speakers refer to them as “Havalan [comrades in Kurdish], the [Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) pigs.”
Damascus and its closest regional ally, Turkey, have long accused the PKK of operating within the SDF, a claim the SDF has consistently denied.
In a statement, the Kurdish-led SDF said the footage shows “ a heinous crime committed by Damascus government forces, they beheaded a group of our fighters during their capture and recorded the operation on video in the style of the ISIS terrorist organization.”
“We call on the international community to take decisive action to stop these violations and hold those responsible accountable,” the statement added.
Other videos circulating online also appear to show captured SDF members and civilians being insulted and beaten by armed men. One video shows a man referring to two female fighters in Arabic as “the nicest gifts” to another militant, implying they could be used as sex slaves.
Earlier on Monday, senior Rojava official Foza Alyusuf issued an urgent call for Kurds in the Kurdistan Region and Turkey to head toward the Syrian border to defend their kin in the Kurdish enclave, warning that “Rojava is under attack” and that “Kurds are being massacred.”
Concerns have also been raised in Washington about the composition of the forces advancing under Damascus’ banner.
“Some of these groups that are making [up] the Syrian government’s military, some of these groups are Jihadis, are extremists, are takfiri, and I do not know if Damascus can actually control them,” Myles Caggins, a retired US army colonel and former spokesperson for the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, told Rudaw on Monday.
Of note, a takfiri refers to someone who declares other Muslims to be non-believers, often to justify violence or exclusion.
Veteran US Senator Lindsey Graham warned that he would push to reimpose “bone-crushing sanctions” on Syria if government forces continue advancing toward Kurdish-held Raqqa, cautioning that such actions could “permanently” damage relations with Washington.
The SDF serves as the de facto military force in Rojava and was the US-led coalition’s primary on-the-ground partner against the Islamic State (ISIS), playing a central role in the group’s territorial defeat in Syria in 2019.
Earlier on Monday, the SDF said at least nine of its fighters were killed and 20 others wounded in clashes with Damascus-affiliated armed groups near al-Aqtan prison in Raqqa, which houses ISIS detainees.
The escalation comes less than 24 hours after Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced that he had signed a 14-point agreement with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi to “immediately” halt violence in northeast Syria and integrate SDF-administered areas into state institutions.
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