ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Syrian security forces said Tuesday that 19 members were injured in the Kurdish-majority city of Kobane in Rojava (northeast Syria) following demonstrations over reported attacks on returning displaced Kurdish families to Sari Kani (Ras al-Ayn), state media reported.

Earlier Monday, preparations were made for the return of more than 400 families to Sari Kani (Ras al-Ayn) from Hasaka’s Washokani camp after seven years of displacement.

Shortly after the convoy arrived in Sari Kani, footage circulating online showed the returnees being attacked by armed men. The developments were followed by several gatherings in the city, with Kurds expressing frustration over the incident.

Demonstrations were also held in Kobane, where angry Kurdish protesters took down the Syrian flag from the Internal Security Forces building and removed a government banner from the district director’s building.

Hasaka’s media center later reported that “outlaw groups carried out attacks targeting several Internal Security headquarters in the cities of Hasaka and Qamishli, following the events in Ras al-Ayn [Sari Kani].”

“These groups removed the Syrian Arab Republic flag from an Internal Security headquarters and vandalized it. Meanwhile, other groups attacked security personnel at a headquarters in Qamishli, damaging several Internal Security vehicles,” it added.

Aleppo’s Internal Security Forces, which were deployed to Kobane to “maintain security and stability,” said 19 of their members were injured and that they had arrested seven individuals “responsible for the incidents,” state media reported.

It added that security forces remained deployed in Kobane, while operations and a curfew had ended.

Before the Hasaka attack, chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi condemned the "assault" on the returning displaced people, saying it was “carried out in coordination with the Syrian state.”

Speaking to The New Region, Salah (44), who was part of the convoy returning home, quoted the attackers as saying, “We don't accept any Kurd in this city.”

Damascus and the SDF in January reached an agreement to integrate the Kurdish-led forces into the Syrian security apparatus on the heels of a Syrian military invasion of Rojava that brought about an end to autonomous rule.

A key point in the landmark agreement was the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs), including Kurdish civilians who were displaced in Turkish operations across Afrin and in Sari Kani and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) between 2018 and 2019.

In March, Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa agreed to form an official committee tasked with ensuring the return of IDPs from Afrin and Sari Kani to their cities of origin.

Syria has fallen into sectarian conflict on several occasions since Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebels overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, leading Ahmed al-Sharaa to seize the presidency, with the new authorities in Damascus having been repeatedly criticized for failing to protect minorities.