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Maryan Hussein, 62-year-old survivor of attack by Damascus-afiliated armed groups, pictured during an interview with Rudaw on January 27, 2026. Photo: Screengrab/Rudaw
QAMISHLI - Maryam Hussein, an internally displaced Kurdish woman, narrowly escaped death after being shot during an attack on civilians fleeing the city of Tabqa in Syria’s northern Raqqa province - violence she says was carried out by militants affiliated with the Syrian interim government.
The 62-year-old, originally from the Kurdish city of Afrin in northwestern Syria, fled Tabqa in the western Raqqa countryside 10 days ago with six family members, including children. As they attempted to escape, armed militants affiliated with the Syrian interim government reportedly opened fire on the group.
Maryam was shot in the arm, and her husband was killed in the attack. As gunfire continued, the family was forced to flee, leaving his body behind. Four days later, they were able to recover and transfer his body to the Kurdish city of Qamishli in Hasaka province, northeastern Syria (Rojava), but were unable to hold a funeral.
“We had done nothing wrong. We wanted to leave that area. We expected they would attack that place [Tabqa], so we had to escape to save our lives. But they targeted the car. If they had hit it one more time, none of us would have survived - we all would have died,” she told Rudaw.
At the time, Tabqa was the site of a violent military takeover by the Syrian interim government and allied armed groups as part of a broader offensive to seize territory west of the Euphrates River from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The escalation peaked around January 18, when Syrian forces and affiliated militants captured the city, its strategic airbase, and the Tabqa Dam following days of heavy artillery shelling and urban combat. The fighting also displaced more than 10,000 civilians, many of whom fled to Qamishli.
During their escape, Maryam’s daughter-in-law was also wounded, sustaining a gunshot injury to her left arm. However, her suffering seems to extend beyond physical pain as for days now, she has remained withdrawn, sitting silently in a corner of the house, unable to overcome the psychological trauma caused by the incident.
“We just want to settle down and rest somewhere. We are exhausted. Our daughters panic whenever they hear an explosion. May God protect them and us. May God end this hardship. We are in need of help and safety,” Maryam said.
According to the family, they were traveling inside a vehicle covered with a tarp when they came under indiscriminate fire. The darkness, the sound of gunfire, the screams, and the fear of death continue to haunt her. Out of fear of retaliation by the militants, the family has refrained from revealing their faces or speaking publicly.
The attack on Maryam's family is part of a broader pattern of violence affecting civilians in areas close to active front lines. Attacks by armed groups affiliated with the Syrian Arab Army continue, with massacres and forced displacement becoming defining features of daily life in towns and villages across the region.
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