ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Kurdish forces are holding the Turkish army directly responsible for the capture of four of its fighters south of Jarablus according to a statement issued on Monday by the media center of the Peoples Protection Units (YPG).The “Turkish government and its army [are] fully responsible for the life and health of our fighters,” reads the statement.Four Kurdish fighters were captured when they tried to come to the aid of the Jarablus Military Council who had requested help evacuating civilians and injured persons after a Turkish airstrike on the village of al-Kusa south of Jarablus on Sunday, the YPG stated.“Tens of civilians were massacred and an unknown number of local residents were injured,” reads the statement. After the Jarablus Military Council requested help, four YPG fighters tried to reach the area near Qereqozax bridge but were ambushed and captured.Rudaw earlier obtained video of four fighters held captive by Syrian opposition forces. The Syrian rebels called the captives “separatists.” It is believed the four captives are Kurdish but it is not confirmed if they are the same four referred to in the YPG’s statement.The YPG has also accused Turkey of “escalating provocations” after the Turkish army fired across its southeastern border with Syria, hitting Kurdish border positions in eastern Rojava, the Kurdish self-administered region of northern Syria.“#Turkey forces direction fired at @YPG’s border position near Amude-Qamishlo road, border units are injured,” the YPG announced on Twitter on Monday.

ESCALATING PROVOCATIONS: #Turkey forces directly fired at #YPG's border position near Amude-Qamishlo road, border units are injured. #Syria — Rojava Defense Units (@DefenseUnits) August 29, 2016





The two border towns of Amude and Qamishli, about 30 kilometres apart, are located in eastern Rojava, more than 300 kilometres east of Jarablus, where the Turkish army has crossed the border and is engaging with Islamic State (ISIS) and local forces.





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Islamic State has reportedly taken advantage of the collapsing security situation as the YPG and SDF forces are distracted by Turkish-backed rebels in northern Syria and has taken control of several villages south of Manbij.ISIS fighters seized control of the villages of Kadro and Tal Hudhan, the militant group announced on its affiliated Amaq News Agency, adding that they also attacked several other villages in the area.The Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seized the city of Manbij and its surrounding areas in mid-August, after a hard fought two and a half month long battle. Turkish-backed rebel forces have now vowed to push the SDF out of the recently liberated region.“We want to control Manbij,” Col. Ahmed Osman, commander of the Turkmen Sultan Murad brigade of the Free Syrian Army, told Rudaw on Sunday.