al-Malikiyah, and al-Darbasiyah. On 13 November 1960, after nearly 500 Kurdish students were taken to the cinema forcely, a fire was set in the cinema by the state agents and 283 students died in Amouda cinema. There is a park in Amuda that commemorates the event. On 12 March 2004, an anti-government uprising took place in the city. As of 2004, Amuda is the fourth largest town in Al-Hasakah governorate. In July 2017 the 90-year old Mor Elias Church was restored and reopened in the city. As of 2017 only one Assyrian family remains in Amuda. Civil war With the dawn of the civil war, the rule of the Bashar al-Assad government ended in much of Northern Syria. Free Syrian Army fighters were briefly seen in the town during the July 2012 withdrawal of government troops from the area, but by 21 July 2012 the YPG established control. The early days of Democratic Union Party (PYD) influence in Amuda was not without conflict – in June 2013, clashes took place. Opponents of the PYD stated that fighters had opened fire on protesters following tensions with pro-Free Syrian Army youth committees and rivalling Kurdish groups. The PYD on the other hand stated it had been attacked by a mercenary gang. Due to the onslaught of "Islamic State" fighters, thousands of refugees have moved towards Amuda. Following the Rojava Revolution, the first meeting of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the Jazira Canton was held in Amuda following its 21 January 2014 declaration. Qamishli was declared as the Canton's de jure capital, with Amuda acting as such for the time being. The meeting was held at the Hurî Culture and Art Centre, and was attended by the assembly president Ekrem Hiso, his two Arab and Assyrian deputies, and 22 ministers. In July 2014 two new co-mayors were elected for the Canton, by a council gathered in Amuda. Those elected were Hamedi Daham (a sheikh of the Arab Shammar tribe) and Hadiya Yousif (former head of the Women's Protection Units, YPJ). In November 2014 Bernard Kouchner, former foreign minister of France and co-founder of the Médecins Sans Frontières, visited Amuda and met with local senior officials. Following the Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone agreement, SDF fighters withdrew from the city, leaving it under the military control of the Syrian Army. Amuda under PYD The end of government rule in July 2012 has resulted in