HUNDREDS of pro-Kurdistan activists gathered outside the US Consulate in Edinburgh yesterday to demand action after a Syrian assault on the region controlled by Kurdish forces, apparent threats of “genocide”, and purported “silence” from the media. Masked security forces known as the “Kurdish Black Tigers” arrived to “work with police” and provide protection to protesters, who flew Kurdish flags and flags of the YPG – the Kurdish defence forces – outside the US consulate on Calton Terrace. They quickly explained, however, that the men were members of the “Kurdish Black Tigers” – Kurdish security forces who operate throughout Europe protecting protesters while “keeping the peace”. Fighting between SDF forces and the Syrian army began in Aleppo in January and escalated into a full-scale assault east of the Euphrates. The Syrian Government is now looking to integrate the Kurdish controlled regions by force.