ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Masked gunmen impersonating security personnel raided a Kurdish family's home in Damascus, stealing valuables and abducting a law student with disabilities, a Syrian human rights watchdog reported on Wednesday.
“Yesterday morning, the Husseiniya area in the Syrian capital, Damascus, witnessed a home invasion targeting a Kurdish family originally from the city of Ras al-Ain (Sare Kani),” the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported, adding that “the raid was carried out by masked gunmen who impersonated General Security personnel of the transitional government.”
The observer noted that “the assailants stole a sum of money and approximately half a kilogram of gold before kidnapping a girl from the house and taking her to an unknown location.”
The abducted girl is a third-year law student and an amputee. Her whereabouts remain completely unknown, prompting the SOHR to demand an urgent investigation to identify the perpetrators.
The abduction comes days after the body of Hasan Kelesh, a 56-year-old Kurdish teacher, was found burnt on Saturday following his kidnapping in the city of Hasaka, northeast Syria (Rojava), in early October, Rudaw’s Viviyan Fetah reported on the ground.
“They messaged us on WhatsApp, sent us a picture of him and told us Hasan is being held by them, safe and sound, but that we must pay $300,000 for his release,” Kelesh’s brother, Rezan Kelesh, stated following the initial abduction.
In a separate case in July, the family of Mohammed Qadir, a 52-year-old Kurdish man, reported that he and his 25-year-old driver, Wiso Hoshan, were abducted while working between the areas of Menajir and Sare Kani, with their captors demanding $60,000 for their release.
The two men were operating a backhoe to dig wells when contact with them was lost in mid-July and their families subsequently received images showing them bound, along with voice messages pleading for help.
