Eight prisoners killed during unrest in Syria’s Kobani — Jerusalem Post
Eight prisoners were killed and another 17 people were injured in the city of Kobani in northern Syria during clashes between local residents and security forces. This was reported by the Jerusalem Post. The Syrian agency North Press linked the tensions in the city to a protest whose participants demanded an investigation into the abduction and killing of Sami Hassou, a representative of Syria’s Ministry of Defense, in Hasakah province.
According to Rudaw, Sami Hassou was also known as Sipan Hizni or Sami Sheikhmous Hiso. He previously served in the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and later joined the Syrian security forces. The family said that the man was abducted and killed, while his sister reported that he had been beheaded. According to Rudaw, law enforcement identified the main suspect, but he had not yet been detained at the time of publication.
Fire in prison
The protests, which began in Hasakah, spread to Kobani in Aleppo province. Rudaw reported that a fire broke out in a prison as security forces were preparing to transfer detainees to Aleppo.
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As an eyewitness told the outlet, tensions inside the prison intensified after detainees, including protest participants, learned about the planned transfer to facilities in areas of Aleppo under full government control. According to him, some prisoners set fire to their cell in protest. North Press presented a similar version of events.
Former SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said that detainees set blankets on fire and the prison administration did not intervene in time. According to his version, nine people died in the fire. This differs from the Jerusalem Post’s information about eight people killed during the clashes. Shami also claimed that security forces sent from Damascus insulted Kurds, shouted racist slogans, and detained protest participants.
Investigation into the killing
Former SDF commander and Syria’s deputy defense minister in the eastern regions Sipan Hamo said that law enforcement had detained some of those involved in Hizni’s killing and continued to search for others. Journalist and Syria and Iraq researcher Vladimir van Wilgenburg reported a video in which an armed group from the al-Aqaydat tribe expressed support for the al-Baggara tribe. According to his information, representatives of al-Baggara called Hizni’s killing revenge for an incident two years ago.
