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The YPG again fought back, repelling the FSA for a second time. According to a YPG source, there were 19 FSA deaths, 10 Kurdish civilians, and one YPG death. Hostages were taken on both sides, but both parties are said to have eventually released them. A report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death total at around 30, and said 200 people had been captured. An FSA leader released a statement calling the intrusion in Ashrafiya a mistake. The YPG also said they were moving a special forces unit into the neighborhood to further fortify it.Conflicting reports have surfaced regarding who attacked the demonstration. Some blame factions of the FSA, while others point the finger at Jubhat Al-Nusra, a jihadi group linked to Al Qaeda. The YPG does not make a distinction, however. Though they speak of a willingness to cooperate with the FSA and maintain relations, they steadfastly refuse to let any other armed groups enter Kurdish neighborhoods. Many Kurds I spoke to while reporting recently from the Kurdish areas in the northeast of Syria expressed hesitant support of the FSA, cheering them in their fight against the regime but distrustful of their ties to Turkey, who has been waging a war of their own for nearly 30 years against a Kurdish insurrection.
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