Decades of suffering: Long-term mental health outcomes of Kurdish chemical gas attacks

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 Halabja Monument, Halabja, Iraq

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Credit: Ibrahim Mohammed

Dr Ibrahim Mohammed is a clinical psychologist and researcher specializing in trauma, somatic symptoms, and psychopathology in conflict-affected populations. He has worked for over a decade with survivors of massacres in the Kurdistan Region, integrating clinical practice with research. He is also a lecturer at the Institute of Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology at the University of Duhok. His current research focuses on validating psychological instruments for Kurdish communities and exploring genetic and phenomic factors related to trauma-related disorders. 

In a new study in Frontiers in Psychiatry, he and colleagues showed exceptionally high levels of trauma among survivors of a notorious atrocity: the 1988 chemical attack on Halabja in Kurdistan. In this editorial, he summarizes their findings.

The Halabja attack was among the most notorious targets of Saddam Hussein's genocidal Anfal campaign of 1988, during which an estimated 182,000 Kurds were killed across Iraqi Kurdistan. At Halabja, an estimated 5,000 people died that day from chemical agents, primarily mustard gas and nerve agents. Thousands still suffer from its long-term effects. Entire families were shattered, homes destroyed, and the community bears the wounds to this day.

When anybody speaks about this chemical attack, the immediate horror often overshadows the story: the thousands of lives lost, the destruction. But less attention is given to what befell those who survived, carrying with them memories, fear, and pain several decades later. Our new study has tried to understand precisely what happens to people after surviving such a catastrophe. How do trauma and loss shape an entire lifetime?

We worked closely with more than 500 survivors of the Halabja chemical attack. We collected information on their experiences, health, and mental state. Somatic complaints, anxiety, depression, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder were also assessed, as were the various traumatic experiences and social and clinical factors. The aim was to ascertain the full impact of such exposure in the long term.

The results were striking: even decades after the chemical gas attack, many survivors showed severe PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Sometimes more obvious than the psychological presentations were somatic symptoms like pain, fatigue, and chronic health issues. It is important to note that trauma does not just disappear with time: it evolves, remains, and weaves itself into the fabric of daily life, particularly in a community that remains under economic pressure and social strain.

Embodied trauma

One of the things we noticed was the tendency of trauma to be embodied. In this part of the world, as in many others, physical symptoms reflect emotional distress, for example in the form of headaches, back pain, exhaustion, or stomach problems. These are not simply medical complaints, but the echoes of psychological injury. We need to understand this in our attempts at care the care that is meaningful and compassionate.

Our study also underlined the cumulative stress. Survivors who faced multiple traumatic events like displacement, loss of loved ones, or witnessing brutal violence, suffered higher levels of distress. Their vulnerability was heightened by factors such as chronic illness, low income, and less education. Yet, despite such hardships, we saw remarkable resilience. After profound experiences, people manage to adjust, provide for their families, and move on.

One story that still stays vividly in my mind is that of a man who was suffering from acute respiratory problems, due to the chemicals at the scene. He bore the scars as deep in his mind as in his body. We arranged for him to see a mental health professional, in hopes of lessening his load. But just a week later, I would hear the news that he had died from complications related to his lung issues. Even decades after the attack, lives are still lost, echoing the enduring toll of that tragedy.

Call to action

In our data, almost 79% of our participants met symptom criteria for PTSD, while 65% had clinically significant depression or anxiety, and well over half experienced severe somatic symptoms. Women, those with lower incomes, and less education were especially vulnerable. Fewer than 17% were receiving psychotropic medications, representing an enormous gap in mental health treatment for survivors.

Perhaps the most sobering finding was the glaring lack of mental health support. Many participants reported never having received proper psychological care. There has been long negligence in attending to the needs of chemical attack survivors, and services in Kurdistan are scant. This study is more than a set of numbers: it is a call to action. Besides recognition, survivors need access to culturally sensitive mental health services, programs to trace missing family members, and official support for compensation and ongoing care.

This is the story of the people behind the statistics. Every number represents a life, a memory, a struggle that extends decades beyond the event. Survivors gave accounts with courage and honesty, reminding us that trauma is very much more than any clinical diagnosis could contain. It is deeply, painfully human.

Healing from mass violence is not a process of forgetting nor returning to some naive version of ‘normal’: for survivors, it may mean carrying memories that will not fade, while finding ways to live with them day after day. Recovery is a journey premised on understanding, empathy, and steadfast care from the community to top levels of policymakers. We hope that this study contributes to such an understanding.

By detailing the long-term psychological and physical effects of chemical attacks, we aim to inform authorities, health professionals, and communities on offering better care. By sharing their experiences, we honor the survivors' resilience and bravery in the face of such profound trauma.

Besides being a story of great loss, Halabja serves as a living reminder that the effects of war continue long after hostilities cease. They echo across lifetimes and generations. By listening closely, studying respectfully, and responding thoughtfully, we can ensure survivors are neither forgotten nor neglected and that their ongoing struggles receive the care and understanding they deserve.

---

Journal

Frontiers in Psychiatry

DOI

10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1693072 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

A study on long-term trauma-related mental health outcomes among Kurdish survivors of chemical attacks

Article Publication Date

19-Jan-2026

Syrian troops clash with Kurdish forces as both sides trade blame for breaking withdrawal deal

At least four Syrian soldiers and an unknown number of Kurdish-led troops have been killed in clashes that broke out during the agreed withdrawal of Kurdish fighters across the Euphrates River. The Syrian army says it has now entered the city of Taqba on the river's west bank, which the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces say they had not agreed to leave.


Issued on: 17/01/2026 

By:
FRANCE 24

Video by:
FRANCE 24



Syrian troops swept through towns in the country's north on Saturday following an agreed withdrawal by Kurdish fighters there, but clashes erupted when the army kept up its advance deeper into Kurdish-held territory.

For days, Syrian troops had amassed around a cluster of villages that lie just west of ​the winding Euphrates River and had called on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stationed there to redeploy their forces on the opposite bank of the river.

Overnight, SDF ‍head Mazloum Abdi said his forces would withdraw early on Saturday morning as a gesture of goodwill, leaving the river as a front line between Syrian government troops to its west and Kurdish forces to its east.

But clashes broke out ​in some towns and oil fields on Saturday as the SDF and Syria's army accused each other of violating the agreement, with Kurdish ​authorities saying Syrian troops were pushing into towns not included in the withdrawal deal.

Kurdish authorities in northern Syria ordered a curfew for the Raqqa region "until further notice", as government forces advanced and threatened to bomb sites in the area.

After taking control of territory outside Aleppo city earlier Saturday, the army designated a swathe of Kurdish-held territory in Raqqa province southwest of the Euphrates River, including the city of Tabqa, a "closed military zone".

'A lot of contradictory information': Syrian and Kurdish forces clash along the Euphrates River

The Syrian army said on Saturday night it had begun entering the city of Tabqa, adding that it was "encircling" the Kurdish forces at their military airport.

"Syrian army forces have begun entering the city of Tabqa via various axes, in parallel with encircling the PKK terrorist militias inside Tabqa military airport," the operations unit of the army told the official SANA news agency.

The United States Central Command urged Syrian government forces to halt its advance.

CENTCOM "urges Syrian government forces to cease any offensive actions in the areas between Aleppo and al-Tabqa", it said on X. "Aggressively pursuing ISIS (the Islamic State group) and relentlessly applying military pressure requires teamwork among Syrian partners."

Remaining Arab residents celebrate troops' arrival

Syrian troops moved relatively smoothly into the main town of Deir Hafer and surrounding villages whose residents are predominantly Arab, according to statements from the military.

Some residents had left in recent days through a humanitarian corridor set up by Syria's army but those who stayed celebrated the army's arrival.

"It happened with the least amount of losses. There's been enough blood in this country, Syria. We have sacrificed and lost enough – people are tired of it," Hussein al-Khalaf, a resident of Deir Hafer, told Reuters.

Kurdish granted national language status in Syria

SDF forces had withdrawn east, some on foot, towards the flashpoint town of Tabqa – downstream but still on the western side of the river, according to a Reuters reporter in the ‍area.

But when Syria's army announced it was aiming to capture Tabqa next, the SDF said it wasn't part of the original deal and that it would fight to keep the town, as well as oil fields in its vicinity.

Syria's army ​said four of its troops had been killed in attacks by Kurdish militants, and the SDF said some of its own fighters had been killed, but did not give a number.

US-led coalition planes flew over the flashpoint towns, releasing warning flares, according to a Syrian security source.

'The goal is to destroy the Syrian Democratic Forces': Clashes break out between army and Kurds



In a bid to end the fighting, ‌US envoy Tom Barrack travelled to Erbil in northern Iraq on Saturday to meet with both Abdi and Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, according to two Kurdish sources. There was no immediate comment from Barrack's spokesperson.

France's President Emmanuel Macron and the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, in telephone talks on Saturday urged a cessation of fighting in Syria, the French presidency said.

They "called on all parties for an immediate de-escalation and a permanent ceasefire", it said, after fighting between Syrian Kurdish forces and government troops in the country's north.

Deepening divides

Weeks of tensions between Syrian troops and the SDF have deepened the ‍fault-line between the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has vowed to reunify the fractured country after 14 years of war, and local Kurdish authorities wary of his Islamist-led administration.

The two sides engaged in months of talks last year to integrate Kurdish-run military and civilian bodies into Syrian state institutions by the end of 2025, insisting repeatedly that they wanted to resolve disputes diplomatically.

But after the deadline passed with little progress, clashes broke out earlier this month in the northern city of Aleppo and ended with a withdrawal of Kurdish fighters.

Amid continued sectarian violence, Syrians face mass displacement

PERSPECTIVE © FRANCE 24
08:48

Syrian troops then amassed around towns in the north and east to pressure Kurdish authorities into making concessions in the deadlocked talks with Damascus.

Kurdish authorities still hold key Arab-majority areas in the country's east, including some of Syria's largest oil ‍and gas fields. Arab tribal leaders in SDF-held territory have told Reuters they are ready to take up arms against the Kurdish force if Syria's army issues orders to do so.

Kurdish fears have been deepened ‌by bouts of sectarian violence last ​year, when nearly 1,500 Alawites were killed by government-aligned forces in western Syria and hundreds of Druze were killed in southern Syria, some in execution-style killings.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)

Syrian army enters areas east of Aleppo as Kurds withdraw

Dmytro Hubenko 

DW with AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters

16 hours ago16 hours ago

The Syrian army announced that it had taken control of Deir Hafer, a town previously under Kurdish control located east of Aleppo.

The Syrian army entered Deir Hafer, which is located 50 kilometers east of Aleppo

Image: Abdulfettah Huseyin/Anadolu Agency/IMAGO


The Syrian army announced on Saturday that it had taken control of Deir Hafer, a town located to the east of Aleppo.

The announcement came one day after the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to withdraw from the area.

The army announced on state television that it had established "full military control" of Deir Hafer. Meanwhile, reporters from news agencies on the ground witnessed troops deploying inside the town.

The Syrian military announced that they had also captured the Jarrah airbase, located east of Deir Hafer, as well as the nearby town of Maskana and more than 30 villages.

Later on Saturday, both sides accused each other of not adhering to the withdrawal deal. The Syrian army claimed that two of its soldiers were killed, while the SDF claimed that several of its fighters were killed.

What did SDF say?

On Friday night, after government forces began attacking SDF positions in Deir Hafer, Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led fighters, announced on X that his group would withdraw from contested areas in northern Syria.

Abdi announced that the SDF would start moving east of the Euphrates River at 7:00 a.m. local time on Saturday.

Earlier on Friday, Syrian authorities said that thousands of people had fled the towns of Deir Hafir and Maskana to escape the ongoing conflict between government troops and the SDF.

Last week, deadly clashes erupted between government troops and SDF in Aleppo. The fighting ended with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters from three neighborhoods that had been taken over by government forces.


Why are Syrian army and SDF clashing?

Fighting broke out between the Syrian army and Kurdish-led forces as negotiations stalled between Damascus and the SDF over an agreement reached in March 2025. The agreement aimed to integrate their forces and allow the central government to take control of institutions, including border crossings and oil fields, in the northeast.

During Syria's civil war, the SDF was considered the United States' most important ally in fighting the extremist "Islamic State" group.

However, the transitional government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa accuses the SDF of tolerating al-Assad loyalists and members of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) within its ranks.

In turn, Kurdish representatives distrust assurances by al-Sharaa, the former leader of the Islamist group HTS, that their rights will be protected. They also warn of a possible resurgence of the "Islamic State".

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez

Turkey blocks calls for regime change in Iran as protests escalate

FEAR OF(IRAN)KURDISTAN REVOLUTION

Issued on: 17/01/2026 -

Turkey is opposing calls for regime change in Iran as security forces carry out a deadly crackdown on nationwide protests. The Turkish government accuses Israel of exploiting the unrest, and is leading efforts to block any military action against Iran – warning that a collapse of the regime could destabilise the region.

Iranians cross the Razi-Kapıköy border between Iran and Turkey, in north-eastern Turkey, on 18 June 2025. © AFP - YASIN AKGUL

Since protests began across Iran almost three weeks ago, Turkey has tried to play down the scale of the unrest. It has distanced itself from Western allies calling for regime change and avoided offering explicit support for those demands.

The protests began on 28 December after a currency collapse triggered demonstrations by merchants and traders in Tehran. The unrest quickly spread nationwide. Activists say more than 2,000 protesters have been killed.

Alongside Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, Turkey has lobbied Washington against any military response to the killings. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said such a move would worsen the situation.

“We oppose military intervention against Iran; Iran must resolve its own problems,” Fidan said. “We want the issue resolved through dialogue.”

Fear of regional collapse

According to The Guardian newspaper, US President Donald Trump’s decision to step back from attacking Iran was influenced by Turkey and its Arab allies – who warned of regional chaos if an attack went ahead.

Turkey fears that Iran could descend into civil war similar to Iraq after the collapse of its regime, said Serhan Afacan, head of the Ankara-based Center for Iranian Studies, adding the consequences would be more severe due to Iran’s size and diversity.

“Iran has a population of about 90 million, including many ethnic minorities such as Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Baluchis,” Afacan explained.

“If a conflict erupts among these groups, it could result in a prolonged civil war. Any resulting immigration from Iran to Turkey could reach millions.”

PKK security fears

Turkey already hosts about three million refugees. Experts say Ankara’s biggest security concern is the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has fought Turkey for an independent Kurdish state and has an Iranian affiliate, PJAK.

Although the PKK announced a ceasefire last year and pledged to disband, Ankara fears unrest in Iran could give the group new opportunities, said Iranian expert Bilgehan Alagoz, of Marmara University.

“Day by day, we have started to see the PKK groups in certain cities of Iran demanding some separatist demands, and this is the main concern for Turkey,” he said.

Ankara also accuses Israel of exploiting the situation in Iran.

“Israel has targeted all these PKK groups and tried to motivate the PKK groups inside Iran,” Alagoz said. “Any instability inside Iran can create a space for the PKK.”

Fidan has also accused Israel of manipulating the protests.

Turkey is already confronting another PKK-linked group in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces, which controls large parts of the country. Ankara accuses Israel of supporting the SDF, adding Iran to a broader Israeli-Turkish regional rivalry.

Energy pressure

Turkey could also clash with Washington over Iran if the protests continue. Trump has warned that countries trading with Tehran could face 25 percent tariffs.

Iran supplies Turkey with about one-fifth of its gas needs, according to Atilla Yesilada, an analyst at the Global Source Partners think tank. “Iran pumps 10 billion cubic metres of gas to Turkey every year, roughly one-fifth of total consumption,” he said.

That supply could theoretically be replaced by liquefied natural gas imports, but Yesilada warned that Turkey is already struggling to cut its dependence on Russia, its main energy supplier.

“Combine this with increasing American and EU pressure to cut gas purchases from Russia, and Turkey is in a very difficult situation,” he said.

By:  Dorian Jones

Thousands flee Aleppo area amid heightened tensions over Kurdish SDF

dpa 16.01.2026

Photo: Moawia Atrash/dpa

Thousands of people have fled the eastern areas surrounding Aleppo as they seek to escape further fighting between government troops and the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), authorities said on Friday.

Officials said around 4,000 people have left the towns of Deir Hafir and Maskana.

Heavy fighting broke out last week in Kurdish-controlled districts of Aleppo amid a dispute over plans to integrate the previously autonomous Kurdish administrations into the state system.

The transitional government eventually brought the Kurdish neighbourhoods of Aleppo under its control.

Government forces are now seeking to push SDF fighters further east, where they still control large parts of the country.

During Syria's civil war, the SDF was regarded as the United States' most important ally in the fight against Islamic State.

An agreement on integrating the SDF into the state armed forces following the overthrow of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad has so far not been implemented.

The government announced a "humanitarian corridor" for several towns east of Aleppo to allow civilians to leave by Friday afternoon.

According to eyewitnesses who spoke to a dpa reporter on the ground, SDF fighters prevented people from leaving the areas in some cases.

The transitional government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa accuses the SDF of tolerating Assad loyalists and members of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) within its ranks.

Kurdish representatives, in turn, distrust assurances by al-Sharaa, the former leader of the Islamist group HTS, that their rights will be protected. They also warn of a possible resurgence of Islamic State.

(c) 2026 dpa Deutsche Presse Agentur GmbH

For Syria’s new rulers, Sunni clans hold the key to stability – and ending sectarian strife

Headed by a close ally of Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the recently established Office of Tribes and Clans aims to ease tensions within the country’s Sunni majority, divided between former rebels, those who once sided with the Assad regime, and others in the ranks of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. FRANCE 24’s Wassim Nasr has gained exclusive access to a crucial link in the Syrian reconciliation process.


Issued on: 15/01/2026
FRANCE24
By: Wassim NASR

A view of Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city, where sectarian tensions underscore the huge challenges facing the country's new rulers. © Wassim Nasr, FRANCE 24

Renewed clashes between Syrian security forces and Kurdish fighters in the Aleppo region are a reminder of the volatile communal and sectarian tensions that continue to roil the country more than a year after the fall of the Assad dynasty.

The latest violence follows weeks of deadly clashes last summer pitting Bedouin tribesmen against Druze militias in the country’s south, and after the massacre of Alawite civilians in their western heartland in March and April of last year. 

Each bout of violence underscores the daunting challenge facing Syria’s new rulers as they grapple with the complex, fragile ethnoreligious mosaic of a country ravaged by more than a decade of civil war and riven with bitter divides. 

While the focus is on Syria’s vulnerable minorities, the country’s Sunni majority  –  itself divided along tribal lines and past opposition or allegiance to the Assads – holds the key to stabilising the country and staving off further sectarian strife. 

With that aim in mind, the Syrian presidency set up an “Office of Tribes and Clans” in September headed by Jihad Issa al-Sheikh, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Ahmed Zakour, a longtime fellow traveller of Syria's rebel-turned-president Ahmed al-Sharaa. 

FRANCE 24’s Wassim Nasr was able to meet with al-Sheikh and other members of the office at its three regional branches in Aleppo, Hama and Idlib, gaining exclusive insight into a body that aims to play a key role in the Syrian reconciliation process. 
In Aleppo, old grudges and shifting alliances

Strategically placed alongside Aleppo's Bureau of political affairs, the local branch of the Office of Tribes and Clans has moved into the former premises of the Baath party that ruled Syria for decades under the Assads.  

Its task is to maintain the non-aggression pact between Syria’s former rebels and the Sunni militias that had previously backed the Assad regime, before switching sides during the lightening offensive led by Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in November 2024.  

It was their change of allegiance that led to the fall of Aleppo, Syria’s economic capital, in just three days, hastening the end of Assad rule.  

The largest of these militias, the al-Baqir Brigade, had previously received funding from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and was entrusted with conscripts from the Syrian regular army. This effectively gave them the power of life and death over local inhabitants. 

“The rebels in Aleppo came from the same (Sunni) neighbourhoods (as the militiamen),” said a witness from the early days of the Syrian revolution in 2011, who traced existing rancours to a notorious incident involving a family accused of siding with the Assads.  

“The discord began when the head of the Meraai family and one of his sons were executed and their mutilated bodies displayed in public for several days,” added the witness, describing their killing as a response to the shooting of anti-Assad demonstrators. 

A lynchpin of the al-Baqir Brigade, the Meraai family was widely seen as a tool of the Assad regime to suppress opponents – not necessarily acting on direct orders from Damascus, but rather to preserve its financial interests and the favours granted by the regime.  

Sitting on a plastic chair amid the ruins, a Meraai family member who was imprisoned at the time had a different take on the incident. He said the executions “were unjustified because we simply don’t know who fired at demonstrators from the rooftops”. 

A destroyed building in the al-Salihin neighbourhood of Aleppo. 

© Wassim Nasr, FRANCE 24

Fifteen years on from that fateful incident, his brothers Khaled and Hamza would play a key role in the liberation of Aleppo by Sharaa’s rebel coalition. After more than two years of negotiations and a visit to Sharaa’s bastion in Idlib, Khaled al-Meraai was persuaded by his fellow Bagara clansman Jihad Issa al-Sheikh that the time had come to abandon the Assads. 

Seeing the tide turning, Khaled al-Meraai agreed to secretly harbour an HTS commando unit that would attack a strategic command centre of the Syrian army in Aleppo. Months before the battle, scouts had infiltrated the city to prepare the ground, including Jihad Issa al-Sheikh's own brother, Abu Omar. 

But this crucial role in the liberation of Aleppo has not erased, at least in the eyes of the early rebels, the Sunni family’s earlier participation in the Assad regime’s repressive apparatus. As the former inmate put it, “our relatives will flee the city, fearing revenge, if they don't see me sitting in my chair here every day”. 

While the Meraais still own valuable properties, including a stud farm for purebred Arabian horses, they have been forced to return some of the assets that were confiscated from former rebels. The new Syrian authorities are protecting the family, but without publicly acknowledging the deal that helped bring about the capture of Aleppo  –  even though Hamza al-Meraai was recently photographed with an interior ministry spokesperson in Damascus. 

The Meraai family's stud farm in Aleppo. © Wassim Nasr, FRANCE 24


In addition to Sunni reconciliation, the sprawling multi-faith city faces formidable security challenges. On New Year's Day, a member of the internal security forces was killed while preventing a suicide bomber from attacking a Christian celebration. His funeral was attended by senior officials including the interior minister  as well as representatives of Aleppo’s Christian churches. 

A few kilometres north of the city, residents of the Shiite villages of Nubl and Zahra live under heavy protection from the Syrian army. As soon as Aleppo was captured in late 2024, the villages sent representatives to the city to obtain security guarantees. Once again, Jihad Issa al-Sheikh, the presidential adviser, acted as mediator. Since then, “there has been only one murder”, said a local representative in Nubl.  “In the early days, the local (HTS) commander slept here on the floor to ensure that there would be no abuses.” 

But the situation remains precarious for the Shiite villagers, who are mindful that nearby Sunni villages are still in ruins. “Our [Sunni] neighbours see that we are protected, while they are unable to rebuild their villages and are still living in tents,” said the Nubl resident. “One can imagine and understand what they are going through.” 

Clan leaders gather in Damascus 

On December 9, the Damascus home of Sheikh Abdel Menaam al-Nassif, an early supporter of the Syrian revolution,  hosted a high-level meeting of clan representatives from across the country, presenting the Office of Clans and Tribes with an ideal platform to send a message.  

Addressing the assembly of senior clansmen, Jihad Issa al-Sheikh said the office was “not designed to command you or replace you, but rather to serve as a direct line to President Sharaa”. He then issued an advice to clans tarnished by collaboration with the deposed regime. 

“Those clans that were on Assad’s side should keep a low profile and put forward figures who have not been compromised. We need everyone,” he added. “We must turn the page on old quarrels once and for all by supporting the state and not being a source of destabilisation.” 

Jihad Issa al-Sheikh (left), a key Sharaa aide and head of the Office of Tribes and Clans, attends a meeting in Damascus in December 2025 

© Wassim Nasr, FRANCE 24


Referring to recent sectarian classes, the top Sharaa aide said it was “unacceptable for clans to take up arms at the slightest incident or to join the ranks of our enemies for one reason or another”. 

He added: “We must rise to the challenges we have faced since the liberation of the country.” 

General Hamza al-Hmidi, the head of operations for the Syrian armed forces, then spoke of the deadly summer clashes in Sweida, which saw Bedouin tribesmen converge on the southern province to fight local Druze militias, and led Israel to intervene militarily with strikes on security forces deployed to quell the bloodshed. 

“We were faced with militiamen firing at us at the front and with killers and looters in our wake. These actions, which do not reflect our values, gave (the Israelis) a pretext to bomb us, forcing us to leave the city in the hands of (Druze) militiamen,” lamented the young general. 

The meeting touched on the sensitive subject of cronyism and political appointments, with clan leaders urged to present qualified candidates for administration jobs and the future National Assembly – and to refrain from promoting themselves or their relatives. The message was that the Baath party ways of coopting tribal and clan leaders through clientelism would no longer be accepted. 

The meeting, attended by two representatives of Syria’s new political bureau, led to animated debate. The idea of a "Council of Elders" composed of clan leaders was put forward – a means to preserve their status and influence while separating their role from that of political institutions.  

It’s a delicate balance for Syria’s new rulers, for whom gaining the support of clans necessarily means making concessions, including material ones, particularly in areas that are still outside Damascus’s control. 

Preventing vendettas in Hama and Homs 

The office’s Hama branch had its baptism of fire in the wake of two particularly grisly murders in nearby Homs, which kicked off attacks on Alawite neighbourhoods. Its primary mission was clear: to ease tensions in Syria’s third most populous city.  

In the days following the murders, representatives of various clans acted quickly to prevent an escalation, under the coordination of Sharaa’s adviser al-Sheikh. The investigation revealed that the murders of a married couple, initially presented as sectarian, were in fact an internal family affair. A joint letter from community leaders helped to tamp down reprisals and narrowly avert bloodshed. 

Sheikh Abu Jaafar Khaldoun, head of the Hama office, stressed the importance of inter-community dialogue. “We need to start from scratch and rebuild neighbourly relations,” he said. “This involves simple gestures, such as attending funerals.” 

Khaldoun said interactions with the Alawite, Ismaili and Christian communities helped to defuse tensions after rebel forces took over Hama and then Homs. 

‘We wasted no time after liberation, for fear of reprisals between communities, and even within each community,” he explained. “The first few months were tense, and some people took advantage of the situation to settle old scores.” 
In Idlib, a laboratory for reconciliation 

A rebel bastion and launchpad for the lighting offensive that toppled Assad, northwestern Idlib province has also served as a model for the type of conflict resolution advocated by Syria's new leaders. 

Starting in 2017, Sharaa’s HTS began to work with local clans with a pragmatic goal:  to resolve conflicts between rival factions in areas outside the regime's control, drawing on clan ties shared both by residents and the province’s large number of internally displaced people. After a series of military setbacks in 2019, the clans were gradually integrated as a supporting force for HTS and the "Syrian Salvation Government" that administered the rebel holdout.  

This dual experience, both military and mediatory, is the foundation of the new Office of Clans and Tribes, whose leaders are largely drawn from the ranks of Idlib’s displaced population. 

A tent used by the head of the office's Idlib branch in the northwestern province. 

© Wassim Nasr, FRANCE 24


A key role of the office’s local branch is to maintain a link between the new Syrian authorities and displaced people from eastern Syria. The latter include both the clans based in areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and displaced people from Raqqa, Hassaka or Deir ez-Zor – populations often buffeted by war, forced displacement and shifting alliances.   

Efforts to tilt the tribal balance have weighed heavily in recent military realignments. Most recently in Aleppo and months before in nearby Manbij, shifts in clan alliances have facilitated the recapture of entire neighbourhoods previously held by Kurdish forces, illustrating the decisive role played by Jihad Issa al-Sheikh and his office in reshaping the balance of power on the ground. 

For the new regime, the stakes are primarily political and security-related. The eastern provinces provide most of the SDF's recruits while at the same time constituting a potential breeding ground for jihadist groups. To alienate them once more would be to repeat the mistakes that in the past pushed certain clans into the arms of the Assad regime, Kurdish forces or the Islamic State (IS) group. 

Reassuring the Sunni majority and healing the deep divides left by years of war is a matter of survival for the new Syrian authorities. Lasting stability can only come from internal dynamics, driven by Syrians themselves. In this context, the Office of Tribes and Clans holds a key place at the intersection of community tensions and the most sensitive security issues. The stated objective is not to marginalise the clans, but to integrate them as actors of stabilisation. 

The authorities are claiming a number of results since the office’s creation, including de-escalation in Homs, the management of protests in coastal areas home to many Alawites, and a gradual decline in assassinations targeting former members of the Assad regime. Despite the recent deadly clashes in Aleppo, the ability to prevent a major escalation in fighting over sensitive neighbourhoods previously held by Kurdish factions is also presented as concrete illustration of this new approach. 

This article was translated from the original in French.

(Iraq ) Kurdistan rights body sues cleric over controversial take on female Kurdish fighters

12-01-2026
Rudaw



ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdistan Region human rights organization said on Monday that it is suing an Erbil-based religious cleric over remarks deemed disrespectful toward women, following comments he made in connection with the killing of a Kurdish female fighter in Syria last week.

A video widely circulated on social media showed Damascus-affiliated factions throwing the body of a female member of the Kurdish Internal Security Forces (Asayish) off a building during clashes in Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, while hurling insults.

Asked about the incident in a recent interview with local media, controversial Kurdish cleric Mazhar Khorasani said that “in Islam, women must sit at their homes” and are meant “to pour tea for their husbands.”

The Independent Human Rights Commission of the Kurdistan Region (IHRCKR), which works closely with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said in a statement that it is “pursuing the case [of Khorasani] through public prosecution and holding the aforementioned accountable before the law.”

Khorasani’s remarks “show great disrespect toward women and their role and position,” the IHRCKR said, adding that he “portrayed women as servants whose duty is only at home.”

The commission further added that the cleric’s statements were “completely against the foundations of religions” and urged the KRG’s endowment and religious affairs ministry, as well as the scholars’ union, to take action against those who disrespect others “under the name of religion.”

In a similar vein, Sleman Sindi, director of media relations at the IHRCKR, told Rudaw on Monday that Khorasani’s remarks violate Article 14 of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution, which stipulates that “all Iraqis are equal before the law without discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, origin, color, religion, sect, belief or opinion, or economic or social status.”

In a Monday interview with Rudaw, Khorsani said, “I apologize to the great and merciful God if I have had shortcomings toward my country, my [Kurdish] nation, or my religion.”

“To easily give up our cherished and valuable women to the enemy, to be held captive, killed... this made me upset,” he said, adding that, in his view, “women are not [meant] for war.”

The backlash against Khorasani followed deadly clashes that erupted on Tuesday in Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsood neighborhoods after the Syrian Arab Army and its affiliated armed factions seized the areas from the Kurdish Asayish.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday that at least 82 people were killed, including 43 civilians, 38 government-aligned fighters, and at least one Asayish member. An estimated 150,000 residents have fled Aleppo’s Kurdish quarters, according to the Erbil-based Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF).

An internationally mediated ceasefire came into effect on Sunday. Despite this, several videos emerged online showing armed militants affiliated with Damascus rounding up, arresting, and verbally abusing dozens of Kurdish civilians. Social media users have also shared images and videos of relatives they say have gone missing amid the violence.

Khorasani told Rudaw, “I support the people of [northeast Syria] Rojava - they are all our family.”

“I did not insult that woman,” the cleric said, referring to the slain female fighter whose body was gruesomely thrown from a building, and extended his condolences “to her family and the families of all the victims.”


Ranja Jamal and Shahyan Tahseen contributed to this report from Erbil.

'Darkest period yet': Once a regional leader, Iraq is now failing to protect its women

A viral video of a mob attacking a teenage girl in Basra lays bare the devastating decline of women's rights in Iraq over 30 turbulent years

Hadani Ditmars
13 January, 2026
The New Arab

Iraqi women woke up to the new year with horrific images of a mob attack against a teenage girl in Basra, whose only 'crime' was to walk alone along the riverside Corniche on New Year's Eve without a hijab.

The news outraged Iraqis and resulted in the arrest of 17 assailants who grabbed, groped, kicked, punched and beat the girl as someone filmed the entire sequence on their phone. The video, which the girl's mother has pleaded to be removed from social media as her daughter is now suicidal, went viral and outraged Iraqi women.

Veteran Iraqi journalist and activist Nermeen Al Mufti wrote about the incident in Basra, saying, "Let's all demand that the maximum punishment be imposed on these barbaric scoundrels! We demand that the existing laws on harassment, the articles contained in the Iraqi Penal Law (396, 403 and 404), are no longer sufficient to punish such morally degraded criminals."

While there are many harassment incidents in Iraq, she wrote, "This particular incident can serve as a model for a real social and psychological study — for a deep search for solutions that may be a cure for the Iraqi society, which is in decline. Let the cries of this hurt girl be an alarm bell to initiate such studies, and for the legislators to introduce a new law on harassment."

The social decline Nermeen refers to began, she says, during the 12-year embargo.

Even during the UN sanctions, she wrote, men who harassed women were kept in psychiatric hospitals for three months, to make sure they were not a threat to women.

Sadly, none of the 17 men charged in the Basra attack have been sentenced yet, and all remain at large, technically free to harass other women. The governor of Basra has dismissed the incident as "nothing to make a fuss about" and said, "this kind of thing could have happened anywhere in Iraq," denying that it was particularly a Basran issue.

Unfortunately, he was correct. Sadly, this was not the first male mob attack against a young woman in Iraq, with high-profile cases occurring recently in Sulaymaniyah and elsewhere in the country.

When the country protected its women

This latest mob attack is a grim reminder of the decline in the status of Iraqi women, who, before the UN embargo and 2003 invasion, enjoyed one of the highest statuses in the Arab world, on a par with Tunisia.

They once benefited from state-subsidised day-care, education and health care, including reproductive health, at a time when many American women could not even access birth control.

In the early 80s, nearly half the doctors and half the civil service were women, and Iraq was the first country in the Arab world to produce a woman judge, an ambassador, and a government minister.

I remember reporting from Iraq in the 90's, when in spite of social collapse brought on by sanctions, Baghdad was still a safe place to walk alone and un harassed with or without hijab — much better than say, Cairo.

I recall an ominous turning point in 2002, as the regime lost control and the "mama Stata" was replaced by extremist Islam and criminal gangs, when I was interviewing people in a Baghdad market.

Even with my Ministry of Information-appointed "minder" on hand, I was grabbed by a man who disappeared into the crowd. A few minutes later, things turned ugly as the crowd threw rotten fruit at my minder, and we managed to escape in a taxi just in time.

Fast forward two decades, and now, according to the UN index, more than a million Iraqi women and girls are at risk of gender based violence, including honour killing.

According to UN Women, only about half of the legal frameworks that promote, enforce and monitor gender equality under the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) with a focus on violence against women, are in place.

Even getting accurate statistics is daunting, as state bodies dedicated to women's rights that existed before 2003 have never been fully replicated, so most are underestimates. Still, they are damning evidence of the decline in Iraqi women's status.

As of December 2024, 27.9% of women aged 20–24 years old were married or in a union before age 18. Women and girls aged 10+ spend 24.1% of their time on unpaid care and domestic work, compared with 4.2% for men.

Women of reproductive age (15-49 years) often face barriers with respect to their sexual and reproductive health and rights: despite progress, in 2018, only 53.8% of women had their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods.

According to UN Women, only 41% of indicators needed to monitor the SDGs from a gender perspective were available, with gaps in key areas, in particular: violence against women and key labour market indicators, such as the gender pay gap.

In addition, many areas — such as gender and poverty, physical and sexual harassment, women's access to assets (including land), and gender and the environment — "lack comparable methodologies for regular monitoring. Closing these gender data gaps is essential for achieving gender-related SDG commitments in Iraq."

While the American invaders facilitated the rewriting of the Iraqi constitution along sectarian religious lines, weakening the old civil code that had championed divorce, property and child custody rights, legislation passed last January under Prime Minister Sudani's watch effectively legalised child marriage.

The amendments give Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance. Activists argue that this undermines Iraq's 1959 Personal Status Law, which unified family law and established safeguards for women.

Iraqi law currently sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage in most cases. The changes passed let clerics rule according to their interpretation of Islamic law, which some interpret to allow marriage of girls in their early teens, or as young as nine, under the Jaafari school of Islamic law, followed by many Shia religious authorities in Iraq.

Proponents of the changes, which were advocated by primarily conservative Shia lawmakers, defend them as a means to align the law with Islamic principles and reduce "Western influence" on Iraqi culture. The "Coalition 188" – a group of women activists and lawyers – continues to advocate for the repeal of this law.

Sudani's Iraq

According to activist Awatef Rasheed, who works in Baghdad as a consultant on gender issues, a de facto ban on using the term "gender" has undermined efforts to advance the cause of Iraqi women

In August 2023, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC) issued a directive banning all media outlets and internet providers from using the word "gender". The commission also ordered that the term "homosexuality" be replaced with "sexual deviance".

This was a regulatory directive from the media commission rather than a law passed by the Iraqi parliament at that specific time. However, this directive was part of a broader anti-LGBTQ+ campaign that preceded the passage of an anti-LGBTQ+ law in April 2024, which explicitly criminalised same-sex relations and transgender expression.

"Within the last four years," Awatef told The New Arab, "Since Sudani came to power, gender equality in the larger context of human rights and freedoms has declined. First, he outlawed the term gender and then, even though there is still a huge need for the UN, he asked the UN to leave Iraq."

Now she says, anyone working for gender equality is harassed by the government, including those who worked for UN Women.

While things are difficult for Iraqi women everywhere, Awatef, who advises the Iraqi government on IDPs, says that internally displaced women who face impoverishment after losing their government subsidies and are still often unable to return to their homes for security reasons, are doubly impacted by gender issues.

While some government proponents proudly point to the 25% quota system for women in parliament as a sign of progress, Awatef says it's a "fake system."

"There is no space for liberal women who speak a feminist language. They are effectively voiceless, brought in by heads of political parties who ask them to toe the line. They are totally submissive to the conservative religious parties.”

While Western countries are more concerned with stability and security in Iraq, Awatef feels they have abandoned Iraqi women, just like George W Bush, who paid lip service to feminism in the build-up to an invasion that made life miserable for women.

"There needs to be a firmer statement from the international community," she told The New Arab.

"They need to tell the Iraqi government to give voice to women who seek gender equality and freedom."

The 'darkest period'

According to Iraqi academic Ruba Ali Al-Hassani, SJD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School and Research Consultant at King's College London, domestic violence is on the rise throughout Iraq, as are online verbal attacks, character assassination and death threats.

The trend, she says, can be partially attributed to "the militarisation of society since 2003."

Moreover, she says, the latest election saw "a much lower turnout rate for women throughout Iraq, which points to greater female distrust in the political system than in previous election cycles." This is not surprising, she notes, after the Personal Status Law amendments were passed, "as they heavily disadvantage women's and girls' rights."

Women in Iraq, says Ruba, are "gradually being ousted from many public, recreational spaces, where sexual harassment has been gradually growing. Where women and girls expect to feel safest — in their homes — we are witnessing a rise in domestic abuse."

Now, she told The New Arab, "It is the darkest period of time for women in Iraq's history."

As I reflect on Ruba's dire pronouncement, I recall my last trip to Iraq in May. En route to Babylon one morning to visit the temple of Ninmakh, the Sumerian mother goddess, currently being restored to its former glory by the World Monument Fund, I met her contemporary counterpart.

My driver had brought along his mother, a formidable woman only a few years older than me. She turned out to be a treasure. After a week spent dodging gropers and mukhabarat, I relished the opportunity to speak with a lady who, like so many of her generation, had witnessed Iraq's shift from secular to sectarian.

She immediately opened up to me about her past — she studied English at university in the 80s and once ran a tourism agency — and current realities.

"Now," she told me, "the men are taking advantage of the situation, marrying several wives and abandoning them and their children."

Even though her husband was killed by Saddam's forces in 1991, his remains were found in a mass grave near the same potholed highway we were driving on, "things were better before for women," she said.

As we approached the domain of Ninmakh, she embraced me, wished me luck on my journey and smiled, saying, "Don't worry. You are strong – like an Iraqi woman!" And with that, I went to pay my respects to the ancient mother goddess, as my new friend continued down an uncertain highway.

Hadani Ditmars is the author of Dancing in the No Fly Zone and has been writing from and about the MENA since 1992. Her next book, Between Two Rivers, is a travelogue of ancient sites and modern culture in Iraq. www.hadaniditmars.com