A demonstration to support the people of Rojava and condemn the massacre carried out against Kurds by al-Qaeda-linked armed groups was held today in London in front of the Foreign Office.

People chanted slogan and asked British foreign minister William Hague to condemn the attacks.

In a statement, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign said that "The Kurdish experiment in democratic autonomy in Syria is now under grave danger from the Al Qaeda affiliated Al Nusra Front and other Islamist factions who are waging an increasingly ruthless campaign of violence and mass killing. This onslaught is threatening to demoralise civilians in the Kurdish controlled region that has remained relatively peaceful since the start of the civil war in Syria. The action is encroaching on the autonomy exercised by the Kurds in their own region of Western Kurdistan as the central state in Damascus, preoccupied with uprisings elsewhere in the country, lost its control".  

In the latest outrage committed by the well-funded and well-resourced al-Nusra Front, it is reported that a massacre of 120 children and 330 women took place when the militants from the group launched a brutal attack on the town of Tal Abyad close to the Turkish border. This horrific massacre allegedly took place on Monday 5th August.

One eyewitness described what had happened; “The al-Nusra militants and other rebel forces surrounded the village,” Yasin Tarbush, a relative of one of the Kurdish attack victims, told RT, 7th August. “They started going door to door, entering every house. If there were any men, they killed them and took the women and children hostage.”

Commenting on the reports, the UN Human Rights office in Geneva said it was investigating and if it confirms the massacre, it would consider this to constitute a war crime and seek to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign underlined that "While the veracity of the reporting of this incident has not been fully verified by independent sources, the news is deeply disturbing and highlights the threat currently facing the Kurds in Syria not only from militant Islamic forces but from the ambitions of Turkey which is seeking to extend its influence in the region and is alarmed by the achievement of democratic autonomy won by the Syrian Kurds".

Peace in Kurdistan Campaign adds that "What is certainly not in any doubt is the bloody onslaught waged by the al-Nusra Front, which appears to have been stepped up over the past few days. According to the PYD the assaults by Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria began on 17th July with brutal attacks on ‘’neighbourhoods in Tel-Abeyd, Serekaniye, Tel- Aran, Tel- Hasel’’. Civilians continue to be subjected to killing, kidnapping and shelling with heavy weaponry; homes are looted and destroyed in an attempt to force people to leave their properties and land".

Peace in Kurdistan supports "the proposals for a comprehensive peace settlement in Syria put forward by the PYD and supports the right of the Kurds in Syria to exercise democratic self-government in the region". 
 
Peace in Kurdistan calls "for the release of any civilian hostages held by rebel groups and urges an immediate halt to the arms supplies to these factions who are turning their weapons on innocent civilians and carrying out war crimes".

A team of experts, said Peace in Kurdistan, needs to visit the Kurdish area to verify the report of this massacre, to compile evidence that will bring the perpetrators of this heinous act to justice. It is clearly a war crime to murder unarmed civilians and the manner of the killing has been shocking in its barbarity. 

"Unarmed civilians - the statement ends - are clearly facing a desperate situation and an urgent threat to their lives. We urge you to respond to the emergency appeal to defend the Kurds in Syria.  They stand for the values of peace, freedom and democracy for all the peoples of Syria that the international community itself claims to uphold. The Kurds are calling for our support. We should not let them down".