Kurds protest at White House over violence in Syria’s Aleppo
Shafaq News– Washington
Dozens of members of the Kurdish community and human rights activists rallied outside the White House on Friday, urging the US administration to intervene urgently to protect Syria’s Kurdish population amid escalating violence in Aleppo.
The protest followed weeks of intensified clashes in the northern Syrian city between government-aligned forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led military alliance formed in 2015 and a key local partner of the US-led Coalition against ISIS. According to Aleppo’s Health Directorate, the fighting since December 2025 has killed at least 24 people and wounded about 129 others. SDF-affiliated media reported 10 civilian deaths in the Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, including women and children.
Under the slogan “Defend Syria’s Kurds,” Shafaq News correspondent observed demonstrators waving Kurdish flags and displaying images of damage and civilian casualties, calling for an immediate halt to military operations targeting residential areas.
The rally carried a direct message to President Donald Trump, with participants urging Washington to uphold its commitments toward Kurdish allies. Protesters recalled that Kurds were “the spearhead” of the fight against ISIS during the collapse of security across large parts of Syria and Iraq, pointing to the battle of Kobani as a defining moment in confronting the group.
Participants also denounced the treatment of civilians and detainees by Syrian authorities, citing what they described as “shocking reports” of abuses, including the mistreatment of bodies, which they said reflected a retaliatory approach toward Kurds.
On the sidelines of the protest, Hisham Boutan, spokesperson for the Kurdish American Community Center, told media outlets that “those leading the current scene in some Syrian areas were an inseparable part of ISIS that targeted Arabs, Kurds, Christians, and all communities.”
He described the current administration under transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa as “an extension of those criminal organizations that changed their names but not their ideology,” urging Washington not to abandon the Kurds in Syria or Iraq.
The demonstration came ahead of a planned meeting on Saturday in Erbil between US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack and SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi, mediated by Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, aimed at de-escalating tensions.
For Shafaq News, Mostafa Hashem, Washington, D.C.
