By Samah Abdel Fattah | 2025-08-09

Nine years after a deadly "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) truck bombing near a Kurdish security headquarters in Qamishli, Syrian Arabs say the attack backfired by exposing how deeply ISIS ideology conflicts with their core values.

The July 27, 2016 bombing in rural al-Hasakeh killed over 40 people and wounded dozens.

It was designed to sow discord among ethnic communities, but Arab rejection of the group's crimes instead fueled ISIS's decline, residents told Al-Fassel.

ISIS fundamentally misunderstood Syrian society when it assumed tribal customs would enable its control, said Rebar Nabo, leader of an Asayesh (Kurdish internal security forces) unit in Qamishli.

"When ISIS spread out across Syria and Iraq, it believed that seizing control over areas that abide by the customs of Arab tribes would ensure it had absolute control, regardless of the severity of the crimes committed," he said.

But tribal rejection instead diminished ISIS's control and gradually led to its eradication, alongside the efforts by the international coalition and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

'Total rejection'

"The eagerness of Arab youth to join the ranks of the SDF and the security forces reflects the determination of the Arab inhabitants of the region to reject ISIS violence and crimes in all its forms," Nabo said.

Qamishli high school teacher Juan Hasso, who lost some family members in the attack, said he has witnessed firsthand how the violence achieved the opposite of its intended effect.

"This criminal act has engendered a sort of added solidarity among the residents of north and east Syria," he said.

The bombing targeted a predominantly Kurdish neighborhood, leading many to expect ethnic tensions, Hasso said. But instead, Arab tribes and clans immediately offered sympathy and support.

"Arab beliefs reject violence in any form, especially toward neighbors and the people of the region in which they reside," he said, noting that ISIS ideology is incompatible with these values.

Annual memorial gatherings now bring together delegations from tribes and clans across al-Hasakeh and Deir Ezzor provinces, Hasso said.

The ceremonies honor victims and "affirm the spirit of solidarity and total rejection of ISIS's methods, and also assert that the group will not be given the opportunity to return again," he said.

ISIS's awareness of tribal opposition led the group to unleash particular brutality against communities that resisted, most notably the al-Shaaitat tribe massacre, according to Hasso.

"The incident at the time represented a radical shift in the course of the relationship between the Arab tribes and the group," he said.