Kurdish Returnees Attacked in Tal Abyad (Gire Spi) While Reclaiming Homes

Dozens of Kurdish displaced people who arrived in Tal Abyad (Gire Spi) in northern Raqqa province with documents supporting their claims to homes, land and other property were attacked while trying to return, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on 26 October 2026.

The families had been displaced for years and returned to reclaim what they had left behind. Groups of displaced people currently living in Tal Abyad opposed their return and attacked the arriving families and their vehicles. Around 20 vehicles belonging to the Kurdish returnees were damaged or set on fire.

The attack involved stones, sticks and gunfire, and some of those attempting to return also received direct threats. SOHR activists and sources on the ground reported little security intervention to contain the violence or stop the attacks as they unfolded.

Tal Abyad, seized by Turkish forces and allied Syrian factions in October 2019, has seen repeated obstruction of Kurdish and Ezidi families' attempts to recover homes and farmland, with armed local factions and settlements complicating property restitution.

The Syrian Observatory called for an urgent investigation and accountability for those responsible for the attacks on the returning families. (Source: SOHR)