Kurdish women braid hair in global protest over abuse of female Kurdish fighter in Syria
Kurdish women worldwide are braiding their hair in protest after footage showed a militant displaying a fallen female fighter’s braid, as the SDF reports continued clashes and ceasefire violations in Rojava.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Kurdish women across the world have launched a coordinated social media campaign, posting videos of themselves braiding their hair in a symbolic act of protest following the circulation of footage that appears to show a Damascus-affiliated militant displaying the cut braid of a Kurdish female fighter after her death.
The campaign emerged in response to a video that spread widely online, in which a militant is seen entering a shop, holding up a braid of hair, and saying, “This is the hair of a haval,” using the Kurdish word for comrade. In the footage, another militant filming the scene asks sarcastically, “Why did you cut her hair?” The first replies, “She was already dead.”
The video prompted outrage among Kurdish communities, particularly women, who responded by sharing videos of themselves braiding their hair as a gesture of solidarity with female fighters in Rojava and as a condemnation of the treatment shown in the footage.
Prior to the circulation of the video, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) released footage they said documented the killing of their fighters, including two women, and the desecration of their bodies by militants affiliated with Damascus.
According to the information provided, these incidents have taken place amid military operations by the Syrian Arab Army and allied armed groups against the SDF in Kurdish-held areas, including eastern Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and the Kurdish-majority Hasaka province.
The SDF has accused factions affiliated with the government in Damascus of repeatedly violating a newly agreed ceasefire. In a statement issued by the SDF Media Center, the force said the ceasefire came into effect at eight pm, but was followed by a series of artillery strikes and ground attacks in the Jazeera and Kobani regions.
According to the statement, at 08:10 pm, Damascus-affiliated factions shelled the town of Zirkan, north of Hasakah, with heavy artillery for more than an hour. At 08:20 pm, they launched a heavy-weapons attack on the village of Tal Baroud on the Abyad–Abyad road south of Hasakah.
The SDF reported further incidents the following day. At 11:30 am, factions attacked SDF forces near the city of Sarrin, an assault the SDF said its units confronted and repelled. At 11:45 am, a convoy belonging to the same factions attacked SDF forces in the village of Basel south of Hasakah.
At 02:10 pm, the factions carried out another attack against SDF positions near Sarrin, south of Kobani, which the SDF said was again repelled. At 02:45 pm, the statement said, Damascus-affiliated factions shelled the village of Hamdoun, south of Kobani, with heavy weapons, resulting in the killing of a woman.
Despite these incidents, the SDF said it remained committed to de-escalation. “We affirm our commitment to the ceasefire agreement and to avoiding escalation,” the statement said. The SDF also called on guarantor parties and the international community to “assume their responsibilities and to monitor these violations in a manner that ensures the protection of civilians and the preservation of stability in the region.”
As images of braided hair continue to circulate online, Kurdish women say their message is one of dignity and remembrance, linking a symbolic act of protest to ongoing violence and reported ceasefire violations in northern and eastern Syria.