ISIL militants kill Armenian H. Tomasyan in Syrian Kobane in front of his 14-year-old son
In the Syrian town of Kobane, militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) shot an ethnic Armenian, 45-year-old Hovsep Tomasyan in front of his 14-year-old son Aram, according to Hurriyet Daily News.
The boy said that ISIL members wearing uniforms of the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) had shot his father on the morning of June 24.
My father was bleeding from his heart when he fell on the ground. Despite this he still raised his hand and said, ‘Son, run, they are ISIL.’ I ran. If I hadn’t run, I would have been shot too,” the boy said.
“There were only eight Armenian families left before the ISIL attack [in October 2014]. All of these families left Kobane after the attack,” said Agop Tomasyan, Hovsep’s brother.
Three Armenian families are currently living at the Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) refugee camp in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa province.
“One family settled in Şanlıurfa, another in Hatay, and another in Aleppo. Two of the families who had passports went to Armenia. The remaining three families were placed in refugee camps in Suruç,” Agop Tomasyan said.
“Before the recent ISIL assault, my brother wanted to return to Kobane to see how his house and store was. He took his 14-year-old son with him, but later he was killed by ISIL in front of his son,” Tomasyan said.