Thread by @bellingcat

Hevrin Khalaf was a Kurdish politician, brutally killed in northeastern Syria

It is likely that another person was executed on the same day, in the same area.

This is a thread on what happened that day, as researched by @JakeGodin.

bellingcat.com/news/mena/2019…

@JakeGodin On the morning of October 12, Hevrin Khalaf's vehicle was found on the side of the M4 international highway, riddled with bullet holes.

This is a video of the vehicle in the aftermath:

@JakeGodin Around the same time in the morning, two separate videos were spread online showing captives on the side of a road.

One of the videos showed what appeared to be a roadside extrajudicial killing.

@JakeGodin Using visuals from both videos, we can determine the events occurred at the same place on the M4 highway.

We can also determine the specific rebel group that was present on the highway — Ahrar al-Sharqiya.

@JakeGodin Details from a video of Khalaf's car filmed by a Kurdish journalist — including a roadside culvert and large power lines in the background — put its location here on the M4 highway:

google.com/maps/place/36%…

@JakeGodin These features are also found in frames from the video showing the apparent roadside killing.

@JakeGodin Ahrar al-Sharqiya can be tied to the location using a video from Syrian photographer Al Hareth Rabbah — who filmed the group setting up on the M4 early in the morning on the 12th.

He was the one who filmed the roadside shooting.

@JakeGodin In a now-deleted tweet, the Ahrar al-Sharqiya Twitter account had initially shared a video of three captives at the same location.

The same captives can be seen in the execution video as well as other photos published by Ahrar al-Sharqiya.

@JakeGodin The group shared a video showing two of the men stating their names and cities they're from.

It's not clear where the third man dressed in fatigues from the roadside video is.

The Kurdish Red Crescent says Azaad and Muhammed are medical workers.

@JakeGodin Ahrar al-Sharqiya has denied involvement in the killing of Khalaf & the Syrian National Army said the matter is under investigation.

Despite denials, the evidence places Ahrar al-Sharqiya at the location where she died.

Link to the full investigation:

bellingcat.com/news/mena/2019…