Syrian Kurdish fighters in the northeast of the country expelled jihadists from a checkpoint on Saturday and seized their weapons and ammunition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
The advance comes just days after Kurdish fighters loyal to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) expelled jihadists allied to the Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) from the strategic Kurdish town of Ras al-Ain.
In five days of fighting, at least 35 jihadists and 19 Kurdish fighters have been killed, the Britain-based Observatory said.
“Clashes raged during the night from Friday to Saturday, pitting (Kurdish fighters) against Al-Nusra Front, ISIS and other (rebel) groups… near the villages of Tal Alu, Karhuk and Ali Agha,” said the group.
The clashes “ended at 8:00 am (0500 GMT), when the Kurdish popular committees seized control of a… (key) checkpoint” there, said the group.
The Kurdish fighters then seized ammunition, light weapons, a vehicle mounted with a heavy machinegun and a mortar launcher from the jihadists, the Observatory added.
The PYD has stated that Syria’s Kurds are planning to create a temporary autonomous government to administer their regions in the north.
Kurdish regions have been administered by local Kurdish councils since President Bashar al-Assad’s forces withdrew from the areas in mid-2012.
Since then, the Kurds have walked a fine line, trying to avoid antagonising either the regime or the rebels, and focusing on maintaining security in Kurdish areas while strengthening control over their own affairs.
Kurds represent about 15 percent of the Syrian population.
In the northern province of Raqa, Al-Nusra Front fighters detained five Kurdish civilians late Friday in the town of Tal Abyad to the north, said the Observatory.
Anti-Assad activists in Raqa have staged frequent protests in recent weeks to express dissent against abuses by Al-Nusra and other jihadists.
Meanwhile in northwestern Syria, the air force kept up a fierce campaign against the town of Saraqeb and staged 10 air strikes there Saturday, killing three children, said the Observatory.
The strikes on the rebel-held town in Idlib province also killed a medical volunteer and a woman, the group added.
Air raids also hit areas where the rebels were reportedly advancing in Aleppo province in northern Syria, it said.
The raids came as rebels advanced on Khan al-Assal, the only town in the west of Aleppo province still under regime control.
Saturday’s violence comes a day after at least 95 people were killed across Syria, said the Observatory.
More than 100,000 people, most of them civilians, have died in Syria’s 28-month war, the group says.
Syria Kurds expel jihadists from checkpoint
