Translated Content:
After midnight on March 16-17, 2025, the Turkish army committed a crime against humanity in Kobani, northern Syria, when it killed nine civilians from one family, most of them children. Two young girls survived the attack, which was carried out directly by a Turkish drone.
The victims had fled shelling by Turkish forces and Syrian militants under their command. This made their civilian and child identities clear to the attacking party, who had been monitoring and tracking them, and to the drone operators, as the victims were exposed in the open.
Insight followed up on the details of the crime through activists in Kobani and relatives of the victims. It also obtained several testimonies from residents in the southern countryside of the city, where the attack targeted the family of the farming couple, Othman Barkal Abdo and Ghazala Othman Abdo, who worked hard to provide for their children on a farm. The organization prepared this report because it believes that documenting violations prevents or reduces them, and influences government policies by amplifying the voices of victims, survivors, and those threatened.
Just as Bashar al-Assad’s regime failed to justify its crimes, violations, and tyranny by claiming the need to maintain stability, no other entity can justify violations and crimes to stifle peaceful political will and achieve supposed victories at the expense of victims.
Turkey Kills an Entire Family
On March 16, in the hours following the Ramadan iftar meal, shells struck a farm owned by Mr. Shiraz Qasimlu, located between the villages of Qumji and Barkh Botan, about 27 km south of the city of Kobani.
The family of Othman Barkal Abdo, also known as Abu Iskandar, who worked on the farm, consisting of the parents and nine children (six girls and three boys), fled the shelled farm to lower ground (a valley or old riverbed).
We were unable to confirm any casualties from the artillery shelling, which activists said originated from a Turkish military base in the village of al-Hawshariyah, northeast of Manbij. However, the shelling was intense and caused material damage and the deaths of chickens and dogs, according to the farm owner who visited the site the following morning.
After searching for a safe spot in the open, the head of the family apparently chose a low-lying area, believing that lower ground was safer during artillery bombardments.
But a Turkish drone, likely tracking the victims, struck the children and their parents at 12:40 a.m., killing the brothers: Fawaz (2 years old), Yasser (6 years old), and Dilovan (13 years old), and their sisters: the infant Avista (8 months old), Saliha (4 years old), Dijla (14 years old), and Ahin (15 years old), as well as the parents: Othman Barkal Abdo (42 years old) and Ghazala Othman Abdo (39 years old). Two sisters, Narin (9 years old) and Ronida (18 years old), were injured in the bombing. Family members, citing medical sources, reported that Ronida's injuries were severe and that she would require long-term care if she survived.
Witnesses and photographs showed that the bodies were torn to pieces, with limbs severed. This underscores once again the severity and brutality of the crimes committed during the Turkish military operations against civilians in northern and eastern Syria under the pretext of fighting terrorism and maintaining national security.
All the victims were from a Kurdish family originally from the village of Kirk in the Kobani countryside. The father, who died in the attack, had been wounded by shrapnel during the war in Syria. His eldest daughter (also injured in the attack) worked for the Internal Security Forces in the town of Sirrin and was on leave with her family.
Turkey Killed Children
“In 2025, Turkey killed children as young as three months and four years old, accusing them of being terrorists,” said Hamouda Qassemlo, a farm owner, in a video interview with Arta Radio in Kobani. “Abu Iskandar was like a brother to me. His financial situation was dire; he worked just to put food on the table for his family.” He added, “The tragedy is not being safe in your own home and on your own land.”
Kobani and the areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces are suffering from a decline in business due to the lack of rain this winter and shortages of electricity and fuel, especially with the influx of displaced people from the Shahba and Manbij regions after the Turkish-backed National Army took control of those areas in late 2024. Before the Turkish forces carried out the mass killing of the family members south of Kobani, the Kurdish residents were preparing to light the Nowruz torch the following day, a symbol of optimism for the future. However, the tragedy prompted the Autonomous Administration governing the region to issue a statement declaring a period of mourning and suspending celebrations.
Despite the residents' determination to remain in their villages throughout the 14 years of war in Syria, including the displacement and return during ISIS's attacks on Kobani in 2014 and 2015, the southern Kobani countryside is currently witnessing a partial displacement of families due to escalating Turkish bombardment this year. In several villages, families have resorted to leaving only one person behind to guard a few houses.
Peace requires an end to the killing. Despite the existence of a peace process between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey, and an agreement between the Syrian Transitional Administration and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Turkey has intensified its use of excessive and lethal force in its attacks against civilians within Syrian territory.
Among the mass killings of civilians documented by Insight through Turkish targeting of families in their homes since the beginning of 2025 are the following:
The bombing of a family home in the village of Al-Masrab, in the countryside of Sarrin, on the evening of January 11, resulted in the death or injury of all family members. Two girls, aged 12 and 13, and their father were killed, and five children, aged between one and ten, were injured.
The shelling of homes in the village of Al-Jamas, in the countryside of Ain Issa, on January 27, with heavy artillery, resulted in the deaths of three civilians, including two children.
The bombing of the popular market in the city of Sarrin, south of Kobani, on January 28, resulted in the deaths of 12 civilians and injuries to 13 civilians.
The bombing of a house on the western outskirts of Kobani on January 29 resulted in the deaths of two men and injuries to a woman.
The bombing of a house in the village of Ashma, in the countryside of Kobani, on February 1, resulted in injuries to seven children, a man, and two women. Another bombing of the village of Ashmeh on February 8th resulted in injuries to nine civilians: six children, two men, and one woman.
On the same day, February 8th, a house in the village of al-Zaydiya in the countryside of Tal Tamr, north of al-Hasakah, was shelled, killing one woman and injuring two men.
Other incidents of shelling targeted buildings, a water tank, and a school in populated villages in northern and eastern Syria.
Throughout the period during which these crimes were committed, some statements by Turkish government officials, particularly the Turkish president and foreign minister, included threats and general, violent rhetoric, such as “We will bury the Kurds with their weapons” or “We will leave no head on one shoulder and no stone on another,” which also confirms that these crimes were committed as part of a systematic practice. This occurred despite various statements about coexistence and respect for rights.
Legal Description:
This type of attack is prohibited because it is directed against the civilian population, according to Article 51 of Protocol I and Article 13 of Protocol II.
It also violates Rules 11, 12, and 13 of the International Committee of the Red Cross's Study of International Humanitarian Law, which prohibit indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks, and Rules 18 and 19 concerning precautionary measures to be taken in response to the effects of attacks.
Turkey's targeting of civilians, the majority of whom are children, constitutes a crime against humanity, the elements of which are evident in several aspects:
The act is inhumane in nature and characteristics, causing severe pain and serious bodily harm or injury.
Turkish forces committed crimes by targeting entire families in Kobani and northern and eastern Syria in a widespread and systematic manner. The bombing targeted civilians in a farm in the Kobani countryside, killing nine people, including infants. Two other victims sustained injuries that could lead to long-term suffering. Such attacks by Turkish forces have been repeated in northern Syria.
These repeated Turkish attacks on northeastern Syria, in particular, constitute war crimes and warrant individual criminal responsibility.
The current Syrian government must assume its responsibilities regarding these repeated Turkish attacks on Syrian territory, which cause loss of life and property. It must also utilize its political relations with the Turkish government to condemn and halt the killing of Syrians.