In a week marked by violence and unrest, a man sustained stab injuries while cars and businesses suffered damage amid clashes between individuals of Syrian and Kurdish descent in Manchester.
At least four arrests were made after hundreds of people gathered on Manchester’s renowned Curry Mile for a second consecutive night of protests on Wednesday, spearheaded by the local Kurdish community.
The initial disturbances erupted on Tuesday following a demonstration in the city’s Rusholme area, prompting police to enforce a Section 34 dispersal order.
Tensions flared as altercations broke out between protesters and police, with reports of conflicts involving the Kurdish community and local Syrian residents and businesses.
A local business owner recounted how a group attempted to shatter his shop windows. Meanwhile, an employee inside Chandni Jewellers described the scene as shocking, stating, “It was chaotic, with crowds everywhere,” he recounted.
“We had to lower the shutters due to the overwhelming number of people. I’m unaware of any pre-existing tensions here; it seems linked to events in the Middle East. The situation caught us by surprise,” he added.
On Wednesday around 300 people attended a peaceful protest in Exchange Quay.
But during the event a 23-year-old man was stabbed and rushed to hospital.
A police officer faces off with a man during clashes in Manchester this week as members of the Kurdish community protested events in Syria
There were protests on Tuesday and Wednesday which saw four people arrested and one person stabbed
His injuries were not life-threatening and a spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said that no arrests have yet been made in connection with the incident.
During the day three people were arrested on suspicion of affray.
Disorder also broke out in a separate incident on Wednesday, with footage from around 11pm on Wilmslow Road showing large numbers of officers at the scene.
Videos circulating on social media showed car and business windows being smashed and kicked in by crowds of young men.
Greater Manchester Police put in place Section 60 and Section 34 orders to help maintain the peace, which gave officers greater powers to stop and search individuals and to order people to leave the area or face arrest.
A gathering of around 40 people ensued in the evening, with one arrest made in connection with a breach of the Section 34 order, Greater Manchester Police said.
Ex Tory MP-turned Reform member Nadhim Zahawi took to social media on Saturday to condemn the scenes, while sharing a tweet which falsely stated six people had been stabbed in the city.
The incident referred to actually took place in Antwerp, Belgium, after six were knifed while attending a Kurdish demonstration.
According to Greater Manchester Police, the protests were largely peaceful but some disorder did occur
Videos online showed groups of people smashing car windows and windscreens with their feet
Several hundred people attended the events, with three arrests made for affray and one for breach of a Section 34 order
Sharing a video of events in Manchester this week which contained the misleading claim, Mr Zahawi said: ‘Our streets have been taken over because criminals/wrong doers who do not respect our laws feel they can easily get away with it and that there are no severe consequences to their violent actions and law breaking.
‘We must act fast & hard. Britain is broken, this is a national emergency.’
The initial disorder broke out on Tuesday following a largely peaceful protest connected to clashes in Syria between the government and the majority Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the north east of the Middle Eastern country.
Syria is recovering from the aftermath of a long-running civil war that eventually saw the nation’s long serving dictator Bashar Al-Assad flee the country in late 2024.
Rebels led by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, a former jihadist and now the country’s president, seized the capital city of Damascus and have been trying to consolidate their control over the country ever since.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is led by Syria’s large Kurdish community, seized control of areas of the north east of the country during the conflict.
Chief Superintendent David Meeney of the City of Manchester said: ‘Whilst we will always work to facilitate peaceful protests, we will act against those that engage in disorder and create disruption for our communities.
‘We are taking preventative steps to ensure this disorder does not continue. Officers are engaging with local people and listening to their concerns, with additional patrols on the streets to make sure this type of criminality does not continue.
‘The Section 60 and 34 powers are in place to assist us in doing just that, and have been expanded to other areas of the city for everyone’s safety.
‘There is also a young man in hospital recovering from stab injuries, and we are appealing for anyone who witnessed this incident at Exchange Quay, or who has any footage or helpful information to come forward with this.
‘Anyone with information is urged to contact Salford CID on 0161 856 5235 quoting the log number 3222 of 21/01/2026. Alternatively, you can submit information via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.’
