Killing of Kurds in northern Syria sparks protests, tensions

By GHAITH ALSAYED
Associated Press

JINDERIS, Syria (AP) — Thousands of Kurds have taken to the streets of the earthquake-ravaged Syrian town of Jinderis. They protested Tuesday the killing of four men as they lit a fire to celebrate the Kurdish new year the night before. The killing has rekindled tensions between Turkish-backed armed groups controlling the area and Kurdish residents and fed into a power struggle between rival armed factions that control different parts of northwest Syria. At the request of Kurdish residents, fighters from the armed opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have deployed en masse around Jinderis, while an opposition war monitor reported that the group had taken over the headquarters of Ahrar Sharqiya, a Turkish-backed armed opposition group, in the area.