Turkey strikes on Syrian Kurds kill 9 civilians, SDF says

QAMISHLO,— Kurdish-led forces in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) said on Monday that a Turkish airstrike killed nine members of a single family overnight, an attack they described as part of ongoing tensions in the region.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) issued a statement saying a Turkish warplane struck a farming household south of the Kurdish symbolic city of Kobani late Sunday.

The victims, all from the Othman Abdo family, included multiple children. The SDF said two other relatives were hospitalized with injuries.

Images posted by the group on Telegram appeared to show the aftermath of the strike, though no independent verification was immediately available.

The incident comes as Syria’s post-Assad Islamist administration moves to consolidate its authority following the removal of Bashar al-Assad in December. Authorities recently reached an agreement with the SDF to integrate Kurdish self-administration in the Syria’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region into the country’s governance structure.

Turkey, which has long viewed Kurdish groups in Syrian Kurdistan as linked to domestic insurgents, is closely monitoring the political situation in Syrian. Ankara considers the YPG—a core faction within the SDF—to be affiliated with the PKK, which has fought against the Turkish state for decades.

Tensions between Turkish-backed Syrian Islamist mercenary forces and Kurdish fighters escalated in November when pro-Turkish Islamist launched a military campaign against the SDF. The fighting unfolded alongside an Islamist-led advance elsewhere in Syria.

Under Assad’s rule, Syria’s Kurds were marginalized and faced restrictions on their language and cultural expressions. Although they remained largely neutral during Syria’s civil war, Kurdish forces played a significant role in defeating the Islamic State group, securing control over northern territories and establishing a self-governing administration.

The internationally respected Autonomous Administration of Syrian Kurdistan follows a secular, decentralized model of self-governance, promoting gender equality, direct democracy, and environmental sustainability.

(With files from AFP | Agencies)