Key facts
- Kurdish-led armed forces opened fire inside Syria's Roj camp on Friday evening.
- The incident followed several days of protests by women demanding better treatment and repatriation.
- Women described bullets tearing through tents housing children, though no one was reported killed or wounded.
- Detainees alleged the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) provoked the confrontation and used it for propaganda purposes.
- One woman reported bullets passing dangerously close to her son.
- Protests were reportedly triggered by the earlier beating of a Russian detainee.
Kurdish-led armed forces opened fire inside Syria's Roj camp on Friday evening, with bullets tearing through tents housing children, according to multiple accounts shared with Middle East Eye. The incident occurred after several days of protests by women demanding better treatment and repatriation.
While no one was reported killed or wounded, women inside the camp, which holds thousands of foreign women and children related to suspected Islamic State (IS) group fighters, described a night of chaos and terror. Videos and images reviewed by MEE appear to show the aftermath of the confrontation, including sounds of gunfire and panic.
Detainees said the confrontation began when SDF personnel entered the camp. Hoda Muthana, a woman detained there, stated that soldiers shot in the air, but one soldier fired through a tent, with bullets passing dangerously close to her son. She accused the SDF of provoking women for propaganda and staging the incident to portray detainees as inhumane.
Another detainee, Dalal, explained that the protests were triggered by the violent beating of a Russian woman who refused to hand over her money and phone during an earlier raid. She stated that this incident prompted women to resist security personnel entering the camp.
Women inside the camp expressed that many protesters were unwell and unarmed, gathered only to protect their children. They described years of detention leading to physical and psychological exhaustion, with children experiencing PTSD. Some women linked the escalation to broader political developments in Syria and increased tensions with the country's new authorities.