News Center — Tensions are escalating in the city of Kobani against the backdrop of security events the city witnessed, amid arrests and violations against civilians, followed by protests inside Kobani prison.

The events that took place in the city of Kobani following the killing of fighter Sami Sikhmous Hassou, known as "Sipan Hazni," on the evening of yesterday, Friday, September 11, caused a fire to break out inside Kobani prison, which in turn resulted in the loss of nine lives and the injury of others with varying degrees of wounds.

Following this, the Martyrs' Families Foundation in the city of Kobani issued a statement today, Saturday, September 12, addressing the circumstances of what happened and its position on the developments. It read: "We condemn the practices witnessed in our city last night, including arbitrary arrests, intimidation of civilians, and racist insults that touch the dignity of our people and their Kurdish identity."

The statement affirmed that a convoy of security forces from Aleppo province arrived in Kobani last night, toured the city's streets, and arbitrarily arrested civilians, stressing that there is no security justification for these violations and insults.

 

Prisoners' Protests and the Fire Tragedy

The statement explained that what happened inside the prison began when a number of prisoners organized a protest inside the center, where they set fire to the dormitories in objection to security forces' attempt to forcibly transfer them from the city's prison to another location outside it. According to the statement, this incident led to the death of nine prisoners, while a large number of them suffered suffocation due to smoke.

The Martyrs' Families Foundation held the security forces' leadership responsible for the safety of detainees, affirming that the lives of their children are not a trivial matter: "An independent and transparent investigation must be conducted into the deaths and violations, the results of the investigation made public, all those responsible tried regardless of their rank, and guarantees provided against the repetition of these acts."