Syria
Aftermath of attack by PKK supporters on UN office in Qamishli, Rojava on October 19, 2022. Photo: submitted
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Qamishli, northeast Syria (Rojava) attacked the United Nations office in the city during demonstrations over Turkey’s alleged usage of chemical substances against the PKK fighters in the Kurdistan Region’s mountainous areas, sources told Rudaw.
PKK has claimed several times that the Turkish army has carried out chemical attacks against its fighters in the Kurdistan Region’s mountainous areas in recent months. The Kurdish group on Tuesday identified 17 of its fighters whom it claimed were killed during these attacks.
PKK supporters have held rallies around the world, including Rojava, to protest the alleged chemical attacks.
Revolutionary Youths and the Youth Council of the Democratic Union Party, which are affiliated to PKK, held protests in front of the UN office in Qamishli on Wednesday, calling on the organisation to take action against Ankara for the alleged chemical attacks. Later, they stormed the building, two eyewitnesses told Rudaw on the condition of anonymity.
PYD is the ruling party in Rojava.
As seen in the photos submitted to Rudaw, the building of the office was partially damaged and some people stepped on a removed billboard which read ‘World Health Organization.”
Neither Kurdish officials nor the UN has commented on the incident.
The Revolutionary Youth has carried out attacks against the offices of the opposition Kurdish National Council (ENKS) several times and has been accused of abducting young people to forcibly recruit them in the ranks of local security forces.
PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara has listed the group as a terrorist organization.
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