Documentation of the Kharab Ashk Village Massacre in the Countryside of Kobani: Five Members of a Kurdish Family Killed, Including Two Children, and Other Civilians Injured Following Shelling of Their Homes
The Rights Monitor platform has documented a massacre committed in the village of Kharab Ashk, located in the countryside of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab) in northern Syria, which resulted in the killing of five civilians from a single Kurdish family, including two children, and the injury of several other family members. The attack was caused by an aerial bombardment targeting civilian homes on the evening of Sunday, 25 January 2026, constituting a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
According to video testimonies provided by survivors and eyewitnesses from the village, the attack occurred at approximately 11:30 p.m., when a direct strike hit a residential house inhabited by a Kurdish civilian family, leading to a high number of casualties.
Survivors reported intensive drone activity over the targeted area prior to and during the attack. Based on the testimonies, the drones were attributed to the Syrian Arab Army – Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, while other local sources stated that the aircraft that carried out the strike is believed to have been Turkish.
Testimony of a Survivor
Mustafa Othman Kajo, an elderly man and the head of the targeted family, stated in his testimony that the family had returned to Kharab Ashk village after hearing about a ceasefire, believing that the situation had become safe. He added that the bombardment directly targeted the room in which the family was sleeping.
He explained that the victims were his close relatives living with him in the same house, namely: his wife, his son’s wife and her two children, and the wife of his cousin.
Names of the Victims
According to the documented testimonies, the victims are:
Jamila Sheikh Nabi (wife of Mustafa Othman Kajo)
Slava Sheikh Bozan (wife of his son)
Kaniwar Sheikh Bozan (child)
Solin Sheikh Bozan (child)
Fatima Haj Mahmoud (wife of his cousin)
The witness also indicated that Nisreen Sheikh Bozan, his daughter, remained trapped under the rubble until the following day, before local residents were able to rescue her alive.
Injured Civilians
The shelling also resulted in injuries to several civilians, namely:
Sharihan Haj Mahmoud
Fatima Haj Mahmoud
Masoud Sheikh Bozan (child)
Mohammad Sheikh Bozan
This massacre occurred within the context of a large-scale military campaign carried out in recent weeks, targeting areas with a predominantly Kurdish population in northern Syria. According to multiple human rights documentations, the campaign has resulted in the killing, arrest, and enforced disappearance of thousands of Kurdish civilians and fighters, in addition to other grave violations, including indiscriminate killings and the targeting of civilians and residential homes.
These violations are being perpetrated amid near-total media blackout and the absence of independent and effective mechanisms for investigation and accountability, reinforcing a climate of impunity and constituting a clear breach of the principles of the Geneva Conventions, international humanitarian law, and the prohibition on targeting civilians in armed conflicts.
