A hand grenade filled with explosives was thrown at the headquarters of the Syrian Democratic Council (MSD) in Qamishlo on Monday night. The MSD said in a statement that no one was injured and the damage limited. Luckily, nothing worse happened because the hand grenade exploded on an outside wall.

The Asayîş, the internal security forces in the autonomous region of Northern and Eastern Syria, cordoned off the MSD building after the attack. A defusing unit examined the area for possible additional explosive devices, but nothing was found, said the statement. The search for the perpetrators is currently in full swing, but there is still no concrete information.

The MSD condemned the action as a ‘terrorist attack’ and said it suspected that behind the attack were "actors aiming at undermining our national positions on promoting intra-Syrian dialogue as a key element for the country’s democratic transition."

The statement added: "We assure the public that no attack can deter us from continuing our efforts to achieve the goals in which we believe. Our fight will continue until the political stability that Syrians want for their homeland is achieved."

The Syrian Democratic Council

The Syrian Democratic Council is an assembly founded in 2015 that represents political parties and organizations in Northern and Eastern Syria. The MSD creates a political framework for governance in Syria according to a decentralized and federal model. It is the political body to which the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reports. It is also the political counterpart to the Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAANES), which assumes more administrative and executive functions. Negotiations with the Syrian government and diplomatic relations with other countries are usually conducted through the MSD. The current co-chairs of the council are Layla Qaraman and Dr. Mahmoud al-Mislat.