ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Kurdish authorities have condemned a “terrorist attack” at a checkpoint in Rojava’s (northeast Syria) Qamishli that resulted in the killing of two fighters and the wounding of two others, while affirming that legal action would be taken against those responsible.

On Tuesday, an armed attack by an “outlaw group” in the village of Tawil Harb, near the city of Qamishli, killed two fighters from the Qamishli Brigade, which is composed entirely of former Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters, and wounded two others, Helezwar Mitant, director of military communications for the eastern region, told Ronahi TV.

“We affirm that the security and stability of Hasakah province and its citizens are a red line,” the SDF-affiliated Hasaka Governor Noureddin Issa Ahmed wrote on X late Tuesday.

He condemned the incident as a “terrorist attack,” noting that “the relevant parties will disclose the details of this attack and hold those responsible accountable.”

The SDF had not issued an official statement on the matter at the time of writing.

“The security of our people and the safety of the region is a shared responsibility,” Qamishli District Director Cihan Hesam said in a statement, affirming that the relevant authorities will work to uncover the details of the incident and hold those responsible accountable.

The incident comes as an ongoing integration process between Kurdish-led forces in Rojava and the Syrian state that came about in January on the heels of a Syrian military invasion of Rojava that brought about an end to autonomous rule.

The process has on occasion inflamed tensions, with Arab tribes in Hasaka reportedly having prepared "war tents" in July as fears grew of furthern armed confrontation.

Another key element of the January 29 integration agreement is the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs), including Kurdish civilians who were displaced in Turkish operations across Afrin, Sari Kani, and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) between 2018 and 2019.

On Monday, armed men attacked a convoy carrying more than 400 IDP families returning to Sari Kani (Ras al-Ayn) from a camp in Hasaka after about seven years of displacement, provoking widespread anger among Kurds and leading to mass protests.

"Those people who attacked us were from Deir [ez-Zor], people from Hasaka, Ghwayran, Aziziyah [two neighborhoods in Hasaka]. They were saying, ‘We don't accept any Kurd in this city’," one member of the convoy returning to Sari Kani told The New Region.

Later on Tuesday the committee for displaced people from the town of Sari Kani temporarily suspended further return convoys until guarantees are provided for the safe return of displaced families.