Free Syrian Army battalions, along with the Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria entered the village of Qinayah, 4 kilometers south of Shuyukh Monday, clashing with members of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), an affiliate of the Turkey-based Democratic Union Party (PKK).
In a telephone call with All4Syria, a PKK member in the village said the combined rebel front had attacked a YPG's checkpoint and that all shops and offices in the village had been closed.
He three YPG members members were killed in the attack, and their bodies later transported to Kobane hospital.
In response, men from the surrounding villages of Qurdina, Iljagh, Boraz and Dadli massed, joining the YPG to battle the Front in Qinayah and Iljagh.
Three fighters with the front were also killed and clashes spread to the village of Dikerman, to the north of Qinayah, where the YPG took control of the local school.
The man said civilians from surrounding villages fled to the eastern villages and to Kobane, while fighting-aged men stayed behind to protect the villages.
Kurd and Arab leaders from Shuyukh and Jarablus townships were in communication to try to contain the crisis and convince the front to withdraw from Qinayah.
Clashes in the area have intensified in recent weeks. Activists in the area said tensions emerged after the Nusra Front entered the village of Jarablus, capturing a number of Kurdish citizens and reportedly subjecting them to torture.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
......
