At least seven killed in fire at prison in northern Syria

At least seven inmates have been killed and others injured after a fire broke out at a prison in a predominantly Kurdish town in northern Syria.

The fire started when inmates at a jail in Kobane rioted over tensions that had erupted in the town on Friday, Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported on Saturday. However, the cause of the blaze is yet to be officially confirmed.

“Dozens were injured, burned or suffocated following a riot,” state TV reported.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the riot began overnight after authorities decided to transfer some inmates to another facility in Aleppo.

On Friday, protests broke out in Kobane over the killing of a former Kurdish fighter, Sami Sheikhmous Hiso.

Hiso’s body was returned to Kobane on Thursday after he was kidnapped, according to the AFP news agency. AFP reported that his body showed wounds caused by gunfire.

The protests and prison riot highlight the divisions still present in Syria following the ousting of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Syria’s new head of state, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has pledged to oversee an inclusive administration and govern for all. However, his pledge has been set back by bouts of sectarian violence involving government forces.

In January, Damascus and Syria’s Kurdish community reached an integration agreement, which has since seen Kurdish civilian and military institutions become part of the Syrian state . The prison in Kobane is still administered by Kurdish authorities and is yet to be handed over to the central government.

Demonstrations against Hiso’s death turned violent on Friday, leading to arrests, according to Kurdish news outlet Rudaw. Rudaw reported that some of the protesters attacked security forces and were being held in the prison at the time of the riot and fire.

Syrian presidential adviser Mazloum Abdi (also known as Mazloum Kobani) arrived in Kobane on Saturday and has been meeting with senior officials there, according to media reports.

Abdi was appointed presidential adviser last month, days after announcing the dissolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish coalition of armed groups that he led.