Gunfire at Roj camp sparks panic during women's protests

Kurdish-led security forces fired inside Roj camp on Friday evening as women who had been staging protests over alleged abuses gathered to resist incursions, according to multiple accounts obtained by Middle East Eye. Videos, images and audio reviewed by MEE appear to show gunfire and scenes of panic as bullets tore through tents housing children; no deaths or injuries were reported, but detainees described hours of chaos and deepening trauma. The confrontation followed several days of peaceful demonstrations demanding better treatment and repatriation to home countries.

Women interviewed by MEE said the unrest was sparked by an earlier beating and months of alleged night raids, beatings and confiscations, and accused camp authorities of provoking confrontations and filming detainees to portray them as violent. Roj, run by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and guarded by the SDF, houses roughly 2,300 mostly foreign women and children linked to suspected IS fighters. Rights groups have urged international action as many inside the camp plead for repatriation or for Damascus to assume control, while the SDF had not replied to requests for comment at the time of publication, as reported by Middle East Eye