March 12, 2004: Football Match Sparks Kurdish Uprising in Qamishlo

On March 12, 2004, Kurds and Arabs faced a new plan orchestrated by the Baath Party and its security apparatus to create a divide between Kurds and Arabs. The target was a football match between Al-Jihad Club from Qamishli and Al-Futowa Club from Deir Ezzor. Baathist infiltrators among Al-Futowa fans chanted provocative slogans with chauvinist nationalist undertones, which sparked riots between the two sets of fans. However, the unrest quickly went beyond the stadium, turning into an uprising across Kurdish-majority towns and neighborhoods in Syria’s major cities.

Before the Events

Early on March 12, the Baath authorities imposed strict security around Qamishlo’s “Martyrs Stadium.” Kurdish fans were carefully searched and monitored while entering the stadium, whereas some Al-Futowa fans entered without such restrictions, carrying sticks and stones. Before the match began, tensions rose when Baathist infiltrators among Al-Futowa supporters chanted anti-Kurdish slogans, inflaming sectarian tensions following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s Baath regime in Iraq in March 2003.

Riots and Live Fire

Soon, the stadium turned chaotic. Al-Futowa fans threw stones at Al-Jihad supporters, while the Baath regime’s security forces intervened directly on Al-Futowa’s side, firing live bullets at Kurdish fans. Within hours, the unrest spread to the streets of Qamishlo, with thousands of young people taking to the squares in anger. The city’s alleys and plazas became scenes of protest as the Baath regime violently attempted to suppress the uprising, shooting at crowds, killing several Kurdish youths. News of the events spread, fueling wider protests across the city.

An Uprising Met with Iron and Fire

The next day, Qamishlo appeared transformed. Thousands of protesters marched to bury the martyrs of the uprising. Demonstrations turned into a popular revolt, with Kurdish flags and symbols filling the squares. The Baath regime responded with strict security measures and live fire, enraging the Kurdish population further. The uprising spread to other towns in Rojava, from Dêrik to Afrin, reaching Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Aleppo (Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsoud) and Damascus (Zorava and Rukn al-Din).

The Baath authorities’ iron and fire response foreshadowed the nationwide repression that Syrians would experience during the 2011 revolution. The crackdown led to 38 deaths, hundreds injured, and numerous arrests.

Unforgettable Details

Uncle Khalil Youssef, father of martyr Ahmed Khalil Youssef, who was killed in the Qamishli uprising on March 12, still recalls the details vividly, even 22 years later.

He said: “It was Friday, March 12, 2004, around 2:30 PM. My son Ahmed was a good young man, loved people and his country. His sister asked him to go to Al-Hasakah, but he refused, saying there was a match between Al-Jihad and Al-Futowa he wanted to attend. Before leaving, he came to me, and as he walked away, he turned back twice as if to say goodbye.”

He continued: “I then went to the Tourist District, where I met some relatives from the village. I saw buses carrying Al-Futowa fans chanting, ‘With our souls and blood, we sacrifice for you, Saddam,’ and ‘You are our heroes, Fallujah,’ while insulting the Kurdish people. I thought to myself, these are not football fans, but gangs.”

Uncle Khalil Youssef points out that those who were supposedly football fans were actually carrying sticks, iron rods, and black stones, which they had brought from the train tracks, parading around the city in buses while shouting provocations. He realized that something deliberate was being orchestrated.

As Kurdish fans entered the stadium, they were subjected to intense security checks at the gates. They were even forbidden from bringing in newspapers and cardboard pieces to sit on, while Al-Futowa fans were allowed in easily with sticks and stones.

Upon hearing news of riots inside the stadium, Uncle Youssef, like dozens of other parents, rushed there fearing for their children who were watching the match. He said: “I ran quickly toward the stadium to see what was happening. I met my son Ahmed and told him, ‘Let’s go home.’ But he refused, saying, ‘I won’t go back. They started it. They threw stones at us and insulted our symbols. Even if I die, I won’t leave.’”

Moments later, live fire was directed at Kurdish youth. Uncle Youssef was on his way home but turned back toward the stadium. He adds:

“I stopped a taxi driver to ask what had happened. He told me that someone had been injured and taken to the hospital. I felt it must be my son. The governor of Al-Hasakah had given orders to use weapons directly against the Kurdish people.”

Interestingly, the governor of Al-Hasakah, Salim Kabl, had arrived in Qamishli and was the one who ordered live fire on Kurdish fans. As a result, three Kurdish youths were killed on the first day.

Uncle Youssef recalls: “I went to the old national hospital; the scene was like Judgment Day. I saw my other son, Djuwar, with his friend Muhammad, younger brother of Ahmed. They tried to jump from a hospital wall but were caught and beaten by regime forces. Djuwar escaped, but Muhammad was imprisoned for a year.”

Ahmed, Uncle Youssef’s son, had been shot. Desperate to find him, Youssef learned from a doctor at the national hospital that Ahmed had been transferred to Farman Hospital. It was extremely difficult to reach the hospital, as security forces had taken positions on rooftops and security centers, shooting randomly at families. The hospital was crowded with wounded and anxious families searching for their children. When asked about casualties, a doctor confirmed that Ahmed Khalil Youssef had died.

Uncle Youssef stood frozen, not knowing what to do or where the body was. He recounts: “His friends carried his body on their shoulders from the hospital to our home. The Baath regime forces were cruel and inhuman.” During the funeral, he adds:

“We carried the bodies from Qasmo Mosque to Kadourbek shrine. On the way, security forces fired again at the mourners, killing and injuring more. It was such injustice that families treated their wounded children secretly in villages for fear of arrest.”

Hussein connects the events to the political context at the time: “In 2003, Saddam Hussein’s regime fell after the U.S. intervention in Iraq. Since then, some people took out their anger on the Kurdish population, as if the Kurds were the ones who overthrew Saddam.”

He explains what the Al-Futowa fans were doing the day before the match:

“They roamed the neighborhoods, chanting slogans against the Kurds. This was not spontaneous; it was planned. The Baath regime aimed to create divisions among Syria’s people and pit them against each other to prolong its rule. What happened at the March 12 stadium revealed this clearly.”

Uprising Spreads Everywhere

After news of Kurdish fans’ deaths in Qamishli spread, Kurds across the region took to the streets and attacked regime offices. In Amuda, protesters broke a statue of Hafez al-Assad, one of the most notable incidents.

When attacks occurred on mourners the next day, Kurdish anger intensified, and the uprising spread to all Kurdish-populated areas:

Kobani residents took to the streets on March 14

Afrin and Aleppo residents protested on March 16

The uprising even reached the Zor Ava neighborhood in Damascus

The Baath regime responded with iron and fire, resulting in 38 martyrs, hundreds of injuries, and a wide campaign of arrests, with thousands of Kurdish youths detained. The fate of many remains unknown.

Attempts to Stir Sectarian Strife Continue

Even 22 years later, some groups attempt to incite conflict between Kurds and Arabs to serve their own interests. Recent attacks and sectarian rhetoric show this clearly. However, the peoples of the region have so far successfully foiled these plots, just as they resisted the Baath regime’s attempts to pit Kurds against Arabs.

ANHA