Kurdish Soldier’s Hair Featured in Disturbing Video

On Wednesday, a video surfaced, shared by the Kurdish news outlet Rudaw, showing a man believed to be associated with a “Damascus-linked armed group” holding what appears to be hair taken from the body of a Kurdish soldier.

In the video, the individual claims to have come across a deceased soldier, likely from the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), and stated that he collected the hair as a sort of trophy.

This unsettling footage emerges amid the ongoing tensions between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the regime led by President Ahmed al-Shara, who heads the al-Qaeda faction known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). HTS gained control of Aleppo in November 2024 and subsequently took over the nation a month later, overthrowing long-standing dictator Bashar al-Assad. Following this, the Shara’a regime, with backing from President Trump, has been attempting to dismantle Kurdish autonomy in the north while trying to bring the Self-Defense Forces under stricter control.

This past weekend, SDF leader General Mazloum Abdi and Shara’a officials finalized an agreement that nearly eliminates SDF autonomy and significantly compromises the Kurdish position. In what appears to be a substantial concession, the Kurdish side agreed to surrender critical oil fields and armaments. In exchange, the Shara’a regime vowed to honor Kurdish identity, including allowing the Kurdish language to be taught in schools within Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava).

Following the signing of this agreement, unrest erupted, with local Kurdish residents reporting alarming incidents, including beheadings, kidnappings of Kurdish women, and mass murders perpetrated by jihadists allied with the Shara’a government. These alarming reports became more frequent after President Trump’s recent phone conversation with Sharer and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a known supporter of HTS.

According to reports, a man was seen in the video showing hair thought to belong to a female Kurdish fighter from the YPJ, claiming to have obtained it in Raqqa, although he specified that she was already deceased when he took it. Both the video-maker and the man holding the hair addressed the woman as a “combatant,” a term used for Kurdish fighters.

On Thursday, various reports detailed protests led by Kurdish women in Syria, who were protesting in response to the video. In the city of Amuda, they waved flags and braided each other’s hair to mimic the man’s trophy hair.

These demonstrations reflect ongoing strife between HTS-affiliated jihadists and Kurdish forces. Ilham Ahmed, Foreign Minister of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), shared her concerns with the UN Security Council, asserting that Shara’a forces were disregarding the ceasefire agreed upon that weekend. DAANES acts as the Kurdish political authority in the region.

Ahmed noted that despite the interim president’s announcement of a ceasefire on January 20, Shara’a forces continued their assaults on northeastern towns and villages. She emphasized that active hostility was rooted in Shara’s government, not among the Kurdish forces.

She pointed out that Shara’s military forces, alongside various armed groups—including remnants of HTS—have been responsible for serious crimes against civilians and SDF soldiers, men and women alike.

Ahmed stressed that “SDF soldiers are being tortured and summarily executed, and their bodies are desecrated or thrown from buildings.” Videos of these brutal acts and religious chants celebrating the deaths of non-believers, particularly Kurds, have been circulating online among jihadists, reminiscent of ISIS’s earlier attacks.

Amidst the violence against Kurdish populations, there have also been jailbreaks from facilities housing dangerous individuals linked to the Islamic State, captured during the fall of its “caliphate.” As of Wednesday, U.S. officials estimated that around 200 of these terrorists had escaped. While the Shara’a government confirmed some of these jailbreaks, they attributed the failure to the Self-Defense Forces’ inadequate prison protection during an assault by pro-government jihadists.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), once a propaganda tool for the Assad regime and now under Shara’a’s control, first accused the Self-Defense Forces of breaching ceasefire attempts but later adjusted its narrative. SANA indicated that military authorities had pinpointed “military personnel” responsible for actions that disrupt military discipline.

The military command remarked in a statement that several violations were noted during military operations in northeastern Syria, despite clear directives given to all relevant parties. They also mentioned that legal actions would be taken against those responsible for maintaining discipline and preventing future incidents.

However, SANA did not specify the nature of these “violations,” which seem to relate to the documented beheadings and other atrocities reported by the SDF and DAANES.