Alleged photo of Ali Boutan’s car following Wednesday’s explosion
A top commander of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) has been allegedly assassinated near the Syrian-Turkish border, according to media reports.
On Wednesday, first reports appeared that Ali Boutan was killed in a blast made by an improvised explosive device as he drove along the road linking the Syrian border city of Qamishli with the nearby town of Qahtaniyeh. Two of Boutan’s bodyguards were also reported dead.
Various media outlets and local activists reported on the issue without going into details on the incident.
The YPG issued an official statement Wednesday that a taxi laden with explosives detonated on the Qamishli-Qahtaniyeh road at approximately 5:30 p.m., killing “two fighters.” No information about victims of the blast has been provided.
Turkey’s Anadolu News reported the incident, saying that Ali Boutan, also known Haji Kurkhan, was the “leader of the YPG special forces.”
“Boutan was responsible for sending [PKK] fighters to Turkey to conduct terror operations,” the media claimed.