Syria: Outrage after 14-year-old boy 'executed' by SDF fighter in Raqqa

Widespread anger has erupted in the Syrian city of Raqqa after a 14-year-old boy was reportedly executed in cold blood by a member of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near the city's sugar factory checkpoint on Wednesday.

According to activists and local sources, the boy, identified as Ali Abbas Al-Aouni, was shot dead by an SDF fighter in what rights groups say was a field execution.

His family was reportedly forced to bury him under tight security later that night, without a funeral or public ceremony, sparking accusations of a cover-up.

"The intelligence arm of the SDF ordered the burial to be conducted at night and without mourning rites to suppress public outcry and hide the crime," human rights activist Mohammad Othman told The New Arab.

"Ali was executed yesterday. Tomorrow we don't know who it will be. The killer remains free, and SDF continues its bloody violations, taking lives with impunity," he said.

The Raqqa-based campaign Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, which documents abuses in the area, also confirmed the killing, calling it a deliberate act of extrajudicial execution.

Legal expert Asim Al-Zoubi said evidence suggests the child was shot at point-blank range.

"This indicates premeditated intent to kill, not just to wound," he said. "Under Syrian law, killing a child under 15 is a capital crime. It’s also a crime against humanity."

Al-Zoubi also condemned the SDF for its ongoing record of forcibly recruiting children, often through abductions carried out by its youth wing, the so-called 'Revolutionary Youth'.

He said the practice, used to fill manpower gaps and raise a generation conditioned for combat, was a serious violation of both Syrian and international law.

"This is a recurring pattern, not isolated incidents," he said. "Despite repeated pledges from SDF to end the recruitment of minors, they have failed to act. Independent investigations are urgently needed into these crimes."

The SDF has reportedly tried to justify the killing by claiming that Ali and other boys attempted to attack a fighter at the checkpoint while gathering fallen wheat kernels from the roadside.

The practice of collecting spilled grain from trucks and silos was common among impoverished children in Raqqa and predates the war.

However, a source in Raqqa familiar with the incident dismissed the SDF's account.

"These are poor kids trying to collect a few grains to survive. There was no threat. The killing was deliberate," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "This wasn’t a clash. It was an execution."

Ali's killing has triggered outrage across Raqqa, with calls circulating on social media for protests against the SDF. Demonstrations were expected to take place Thursday evening to denounce the armed group's growing abuses in the region.

The SDF continues to control most of northeastern Syria, outside the authority of the Syrian government in Damascus, despite an agreement last March which stipulated that its fighters be integrated into the government's army and security forces.