Over the past two months, violence has intensified across Rojava, the region administered by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and protected by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a multiethnic coalition of Kurdish, Arab, and Christian fighters that led the defeat of ISIS and now defends the area’s autonomy.
The Damascus government, Turkish-backed militias, and extremist groups have carried out repeated attacks on these territories, resulting in mounting civilian casualties and widespread displacement.
At least ten civilians have been killed in recent assaults on Rojava communities. The deadliest incident occurred on September 20 in the village of Umm Tina, where eight civilians, including several children aged one to four, elderly women in their seventies, and a two-month-old baby who later died of injuries, were killed during the “Umm Tina massacre.”
Two more civilians died earlier that month in Deir Hafir clashes. Four civilians and several children were wounded in later strikes on Zubeyda village.
The Syrian Democratic Forces also suffered one fighter killed and several wounded during repeated drone and artillery attacks. On October 16, a bus bombing in Deir Az Zor, likely carried out by ISIS remnants, killed four security personnel and injured nine others.
Forces aligned with Ahmad al-Sharaa’s Damascus government have launched numerous drone and artillery attacks on SDF-held areas, including Deir Hafir and Umm Tina.
Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) factions have conducted widespread kidnappings, looting, and extortion in northern Aleppo and al-Bab countryside, often targeting civilians for ransom or property seizure.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants have joined assaults on Rojava villages, while ISIS cells are re-emerging across eastern Syria, contributing to insecurity and sporadic bombings that deepen civilian suffering.
Abductions and other crimes are also increasing in territories held by Damascus-aligned and Turkish-backed groups.
Recent cases include the attempted kidnapping of a student at Ratib al-Mousa Primary School in rural Quneitra, where the child resisted and was injured, and the kidnapping of businessman Salah Aslan, a relative of General Ali Aslan, in Latakia.
The SNA has been accused of property seizures, racketeering, and forced displacement of civilians from Kurdish-majority regions.
Following the Assad regime’s withdrawal from Deir Hafir in late 2024, the Kurdish-led SDF assumed control and established a civil council in March 2025.
Although a ceasefire agreement was signed on March 10 between SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi and transitional president Ahmad al-Sharaa, intended to integrate SDF forces into national institutions, the accord collapsed amid continuous attacks on SDF units and civilians.
The SDF maintains that it cannot disarm under current conditions. Commanders cite the massacre of more than one thousand Alawite civilians who had surrendered their weapons to Damascus authorities as evidence that disarmament leaves communities defenseless.
In contrast, the SDF insists its mission is to protect the people of Rojava from government, militia, and terrorist violence.
Since August 2025, both the SDF and Syrian government forces have accused each other of violating the March 10 ceasefire.
A second, more comprehensive ceasefire was signed on October 7, 2025, but violations have continued.
While both sides blame each other for breaking the ceasefire, evidence consistently shows that Damascus government forces conduct indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas with drones and artillery, whereas the SDF primarily engages in military-to-military confrontations to defend its positions.
The Deir Hafir border crossing, strategically connecting Raqqa and Aleppo, has become a flashpoint. On October 22, a suicide drone struck near the ceasefire line, causing material damage but no casualties.
The SDF described this as part of a broader campaign by Damascus-linked forces to destabilize the Autonomous Administration’s security.
According to the SDF Press Center, the September 20 assault on Umm Tina began with drone strikes followed by hours of indiscriminate artillery shelling using howitzers.
The attack deliberately targeted civilian homes. Among the eight victims was Omer Ebduleziz Hemze, a two-month-old baby who died from his injuries two days later on September 22.
Three days after the Umm Tina massacre, on September 23, Damascus-affiliated forces carried out new artillery strikes on the village of Zubeyda, injuring four more children.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented three additional civilians injured by Syrian Army shelling on the same day as the Umm Tina attack.
The attacks have continued into recent weeks. In one incident, two suicide drones targeted SDF positions, killing one fighter and wounding three others.
Another drone later struck an Internal Security Forces patrol, injuring four personnel. These military strikes were accompanied by artillery fire on residential neighborhoods, spreading fear among civilians and endangering non-combatants.
The SDF has condemned these assaults as a deliberate military escalation designed to destabilize the region, displace residents, and violate ceasefire agreements.
The autonomous administration maintains that it is exercising its legitimate right to self-defense against “undisciplined groups” that continue violating ceasefires and targeting civilian areas.
The violence in Rojava is part of a wider pattern of instability across Syria under President al-Sharaa’s interim government, which came to power after the December 2024 rebel offensive that ousted Assad.
Al-Sharaa’s government has presided over sectarian clashes in Suwayda, allowed Turkish-backed militias to operate with impunity, and failed to control extremist groups despite signing ceasefire agreements with the SDF.
The Deir Az Zor region, which borders Iraq and remains divided between Damascus government forces and SDF-controlled territory east of the Euphrates River, exemplifies the ongoing tensions.
The area is Syria’s main oil and wheat-producing region, with the SDF overseeing most of the country’s oilfields, a fact that adds economic dimensions to the conflict.
Despite al-Sharaa’s efforts to reintegrate Syria into the international community, including his historic address to the UN General Assembly, the first by a Syrian leader in six decades, and securing investments from Gulf Arab states, his government has continued to launch attacks on Rojava’s civilian population and has failed to implement the promised integration of SDF forces into national institutions.
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