ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The sister of a Kurdish member of the Syrian army on Friday recounted the final moments before her brother was brutally killed near Hasaka city in northeast Syria (Rojava), as authorities said the main suspect had been identified but had yet to be arrested.
Sipan Hizni, whose real name is Sami Sheikhmous Hiso, was a member of a Syrian army brigade comprising fighters from the now-dissolved Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Videos circulating after his abduction and killing show him lying bloodied on a street. His family said he was beheaded.
His killing has sparked demonstrations across Rojava.
“He left home at 2 [pm]. He returned and I asked him to have lunch. He ate and left but never came back,” his sister, Faner Haso, told Rudaw’s Viviyan Fetah on Friday.
Haso said her brother had told the family that he was going to attend a meeting and would return after two hours, but he never returned.
One of Hizni’s friends visited the family’s home at around 6 pm to ask about him, but they were unaware that he had been kidnapped and killed outside the city.
“I told him that he was not home. My elder daughter said she had seen a video of her uncle [Sipan] and said that he had been fallen [killed] but I did not believe her. Later I realized that all neighbors had heard about it [his death],” Hizni’s mourning sister said.
She said she only learned of her brother’s death after visiting the home of another brother.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based war monitor that relies on a network of sources inside Syria, reported on Thursday that Hizni was killed by members of the Bagara Arab tribe, who had accused him of involvement in the killing of several members of the tribe around two years ago.
His sister said she did not know why her brother was killed.
Hizni was buried in Hasaka.
Sipan Hamo, a former SDF commander and a deputy to the Syrian defense minister for eastern areas, said in a statement on X late Thursday that “the competent authorities have taken the initiative to apprehend a number of those involved, and they continue their efforts until all the criminals are arrested, to stand before the judiciary and receive a fair trial commensurate with the brutality of the crime committed, in accordance with the law.”
Syrian state media reported that the main perpetrator had been identified but has yet to be arrested. A video circulating on social media on Friday purportedly showed members of the Bagara tribe carrying firearms in an apparent attempt to prevent security forces from arresting the main suspect.
People took to the streets in Hasaka late Thursday to condemn the killing, with further demonstrations planned for Friday.
“I call upon the sons and daughters of our people to exercise patience, self-control, and to avoid being drawn into attempts to incite strife,” Hamo said in his statement.
Similar incidents have caused violence in Rojava in the past.
The killing comes weeks after two members of the Syrian army’s Qamishli Brigade, made up of former SDF fighters, were killed and two others wounded when unidentified gunmen attacked their post in Tawil Harb village, south of Qamishli.
Damascus and the SDF reached a ceasefire and phased integration agreement in late January following clashes between the two sides. The deal provided for former SDF fighters to be incorporated into the Syrian army through several brigades, including units based in Hasaka and Qamishli, while Kurdish security and civilian institutions were also to be integrated into state structures.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi announced in August that the integration of the group’s military, security and administrative institutions into the Syrian state had been completed. Days later, the SDF formally announced its dissolution, ending its independent military structure after years as the main US-backed force fighting ISIS in Syria.
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