Three people killed in celebratory gunfire in northeastern Syria

Three people were killed and at least five others were injured on Friday as a result of random gunfire in the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli in northeastern Syria.

The incidents reflect a growing pattern of such behaviour during social and religious occasions in the area.

They coincided with festivities in areas of northern and eastern Syria marking the holidays of Nowruz and Eid al-Fitr, as well as events related to the release of detainees - occasions that are often accompanied by heavy celebratory gunfire into the air.

In an official statement, the General Command of the Asayish Internal Security Forces, which is affiliated to the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of Northeastern Syrian (AANES) warned of the dangers of these practices, noting that random gunfire poses a direct threat to civilians’ lives and contributes to destabilization.

The Asayish said that random shooting is considered a “flagrant crime” punishable by law, stressing that strict measures will be taken against violators, including confiscation of weapons and referring those involved to the judiciary.

The statement added that this phenomenon creates opportunities for “malicious actors” to exploit the chaos and spread unrest, as well as causing the deaths of innocent people, as happened in Friday’s incident.

Last January, Syrian government forces captured most of northeastern Syria from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), even though Hasakah and Qamishli are still under the control of SDF and AANES.

Under the new ceasefire agreement, Kurdish-led military, security, and government institutions are due to integrate into the Syrian government, but this has yet to happen and the region is still in a tense and uncertain phase.

Ramadan Mohammed, a resident of the city of Qamishli, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that there are “urgent calls and repeated appeals to security forces to control the chaos caused by random gunfire,” noting that the phenomenon has been increasingly recurring in most cities of northeastern Syria, especially during celebrations.

He added that residents are demanding stricter security measures and enforcement of deterrent laws to curb this phenomenon, which claims civilian lives and turns moments of joy into repeated tragedies.