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HASAKEH: A first group of Syrian Kurds headed back to their northeastern hometown of Ras al-Ain on Monday after years of displacement, with Kurdish officials later accusing “armed groups” of attacking some returnees upon their arrival.
A January agreement with the government on merging Kurdish forces and civil institutions into the state had included provisions for the return of displaced Kurds, but residents of Ras al-Ain had still been waiting.
Tens of thousands of Kurds were displaced when Turkiye and allied Syrian fighters seized an Arab-majority strip of territory along the Turkish border, including Ras al-Ain, from Kurdish control in 2019 during Syria’s civil war.
Jawan Isso, from a committee representing displaced people from Ras al-Ain, said that a “first batch” of around 2,500 people were headed home on Monday.
