Syrian women burn hijabs to support protests in Iran

Hundreds of women protested in Kurdish-controlled northern Syria on September 26 over the death of an Iranian Kurdish woman in the custody of Iran's morality police, with some cutting their hair and burning headscarves in an echo of demonstrations in Iran.

Mahsa Amini, 22, died earlier this month after being arrested in Tehran by police enforcing the Islamic Republic's strict restrictions on women's dress, Reuters reports. Her death has touched off Iran's biggest unrest since 2019.

Protesters held aloft pictures of Amini as they marched through a street in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli.

"She was subjected to brutal treatment by the Iranian tyrants. We don't accept this insult to any woman in society," said Sawsan Hussein, 52, an employee of the Kurdish-led administration who was at the protest.

Amini's father has said she had no health problems and that she suffered bruises to her legs in custody and holds the police responsible for her death.

Iranian police have denied harming her, saying she fell ill as she waited with other detained women. Iran's foreign ministry on September 26 accused the United States of using the protests to try to destabilise the Islamic Republic.