Syria
Families flee the violence from the villages of al-Safa and Bakila near Kobane in northern Syria as clashes escalate between Damascus-affiliated armed groups and Kurdish-led forces on January 26, 2026. Photo: Screengrab/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Damascus-affiliated factions have violated the ceasefire agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) more than 20 times since its mid-January announcement, the Kurdish-led forces said on Monday, further accusing these groups of carrying out a “massacre” near Kobane, as fighting escalates around the Kurdish city and in the Hasaka countryside, east of northeast Syria (Rojava).
In a statement on X, the SDF said that “three civilians were injured in a drone strike carried out by Damascus-affiliated factions in the village of al-Milibiya,” adding that clashes are “ongoing in the village of al-Safa,” where these factions have “carried out multiple drone strikes, resulting in injuries among civilians.”
The Kurdish-led forces further noted that these groups are continuing their “heavy shelling on the villages of Kharab Ashk and Chalabiya,” southeast of Kobane, adding that the area “had previously witnessed a massacre of the Bozan family, in which five family members were killed and five others injured as a result of shelling.”
Earlier in the day, the SDF published video footage of injured civilians from the Bozan family, who appeared to include women and children.
The attacks “come as part of the ongoing escalation” against Kurdish-held areas despite a ceasefire in effect since mid-January, the SDF said, adding that Damascus-affiliated armed groups “have violated the ceasefire agreement more than 20 times to date.”
“While reaffirming that our forces are exercising their legitimate right to self-defense, we hold Damascus fully responsible for these violations” the SDF said, urging “the guarantor parties to the ceasefire agreement to assume their responsibilities and take urgent action to halt these attacks and end the ongoing escalation by Damascus.”
Meanwhile, Rudaw’s camera captured the outflow of Kurdish families from al-Safa and surrounding villages on Monday.
🔴 LIVE: Residents flee Safa village in Hasaka countryside amid renwed fighting https://t.co/XpWJAGsRv4
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) January 26, 2026
One resident told Rudaw’s reporter in Rojava that she and her family fled “the shelling, the fighting, and the lack of security,” adding that all locals leaving the village of Kablik were also on the move.
Another fleeing family from Kablik told Rudaw that “clashes have been escalating in nearby Safa village since noon,” noting that the scope of the fighting is spreading around Kobane.
In a Monday interview with Rudaw, Rula Amin, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Middle East, said that “more than 100,000 people are estimated to have been displaced” in Rojava due to the ongoing escalation, noting that “harsh winter conditions have further worsened their situation.”
While aid convoys have arrived in Kobane to provide relief to the displaced, Amin stressed that “the needs are far greater.” In Hasaka alone, she said, more than 4,000 families are living in shelters and schools, in addition to thousands of others being hosted by relatives in cities and villages.
Dilnya Rahman contributed to this report from Kobane, Syria.
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