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âFive deadâ in new Syria clashes
At least five people have been killed in fresh clashes between Kurds and police in northern Syria, reports say. A Kurdish politician told the Associated Press that two Kurds and three police officers were killed on Tuesday in a riot in Aleppo. Several deaths have been reported in clashes between Arabs and the Kurdish minority over the past few days, but Syria denies any political unrest. "Riots? What riots?" Syria has about two million Kurds among its population of 17 million. There was no immediate confirmation of the deaths from the Syrian Government, which has not issued any figures for casualties since clashes between Kurds and Arabs began on Friday. Witnesses told AP that a second riot in Afrin, 65 kilometres (40 miles) north of Aleppo, led to the death of two other people. Another Kurdish source, Mashaal Timo of the Kurdish Peopleâs Union, told the French news agency AFP that that nine Kurds had been killed in overnight clashes with Arab residents in Aleppo. The first violence came after a brawl at a soccer match last Friday in Qameshli near the border with Turkey and Iraq. At least nine people were killed and a railway station, schools and public offices were badly damaged. The clashes have triggered a wave of protests among Syrian Kurds living in exile. They claim the authorities have encouraged violence against the Kurdish minority in the disturbances. On Tuesday, Turkeyâs Anatolia news agency said security forces opened fire on Kurds marking the anniversary of the 1988 gas attack on Iraqi Kurds in the town of Halabja. It said three people were shot dead in Aleppo and four in Afrin. With the success of the Kurds in Iraq throwing off Saddam, Syria is going to have a hard time keeping the lid on their Kurdish population. Posted by: Steve 2004-03-17 |
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