Footage of Damascus-linked militant holding Kurdish female fighter’s hair sparks outrage

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Footage showing a member of a Damascus-affiliated armed group holding a strand of hair belonging to a Kurdish female fighter from the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) has sparked widespread outrage across social media, drawing condemnation for its sheer brutality and inhumanity.

In the clip, the militant enters a room with the hair in hand, smiling, and mockingly chats with another fighter about how he came to possess it.

According to the militant, the YPJ fighter was killed during clashes in Raqqa.

“This is the hair of a haval,” he says, holding up the strand. In Kurdish, haval is a term of respect used among fighters.

“Why did you cut the hair?” asks the other militant filming the scene, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

“She was already dead,” the first replies.

“So, only the hair remains safe,” the camera records, the cruel jest underlining the utter disregard for human life.

The footage quickly ignited a storm of outrage online, with users demanding accountability for what many are calling a war crime.

Military tensions continue to escalate across Rojava, where Syrian army forces and allied factions have intensified operations against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The conflict, which began in mid-January east of Aleppo, has since spread toward Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Hasaka.

The YPJ is a key all-female Kurdish force affiliated with the SDF.

Damascus-backed forces have been accused of committing widespread war crimes, while the SDF has also documented several of its fighters being decapitated.

The Kurdish-led SDF, the de facto military force in Rojava, played a pivotal role in defeating ISIS in Syria in 2019 and was the primary on-the-ground partner of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS until Syria formally joined the coalition in November.

British lawmakers have warned that Kurds in Rojava face an “immense” threat amid escalating military operationsm as civilians are reportedly being insulted, beaten, and executed by armed groups aligned with Damascus.

“The threat that they face is immense, and I think the general view at the moment is that everything has to be done to ensure that the threat of violence, and the real risk that people will be killed, comes to an end,” Bill Ribeiro-Addy, a member of the British Parliament, told Rudaw.