Syrian rebel leader Mohammad al-Jolani called on the public to celebrate the fall of the Assad regime without shooting, after accidental gunfire caused a stampede and left people injured in the city of Raqqa.
Jolani, head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, delivered a video message this Friday (13) wearing a white shirt and vest – a departure from his usual military attire.
“I want to congratulate the Syrian people on the victory of the blessed revolution. And I invite you to take to the streets to express your joy without shooting bullets and scaring people,” he asked in the video. “After that, we will build the country.”
The leader’s message comes after hundreds of people took to the streets of Raqqa, on Thursday (12), to celebrate the escape of deposed president Bashar al-Assad.
On that occasion, a man lost control of his machine gun and, by mistake, opened fire on people who were there, according to witnesses and an activist group.
Following the shooting, conflicts erupted between youths and local security, affiliated with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). This led to stone throwing, and local security responded with gunfire.
At least one person was killed and 15 injured, a local journalist and witnesses reported.
THE CNN could not independently verify the circumstances of the incident.
Tensions have been high in Raqqa between the Kurdish-led SDF and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), with some residents calling for the SDF to hand over control of the city to the FSA.
Raqqa is predominantly Arab, with a Kurdish minority.
Understand the conflict in Syria
The Assad family regime was overthrown in Syria on December 8, after 50 years in power, when rebel groups took over the capital Damascus.
President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country and is in Moscow after gaining asylum, according to a source in Russia.
Syria’s civil war began during the Arab Spring in 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.
The country was plunged into full-scale conflict when a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to fight government troops.
Furthermore, the Islamic State, a terrorist group, also managed to gain a foothold in the country and came to control 70% of Syrian territory.
Fighting escalated as other regional actors and world powers — from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia — joined in, escalating the country’s war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.”
Russia has allied with Bashar al-Assad’s government to combat the Islamic State and rebels, while the United States has led an international coalition to repel the terrorist group.
After a ceasefire agreement in 2020, the conflict remained largely “dormant”, with minor clashes between the rebels and the Assad regime.
More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the UN, and millions of people have been displaced across the region.
This content was originally published in Rebel leader asks Syrians to celebrate without shooting, after death in celebration on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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