Extremists capture Kurdish fighters in northern Syria amid heavy fighting

BEIRUT – Activists are reporting heavy fighting between an extremist group and Kurdish gunmen in northern Syria, saying jihadis have captured a dozen fighters.

Fighting between the two sides intensified earlier this month after jihadis started using weapons recently captured from government forces in neighboring Iraq.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Turkey-based Kurdish activist Mustafa Osso say the clashes concentrated Sunday in the region of Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab.

The Observatory says 12 Kurdish fighters have been missing since Saturday during battles with the Islamic State group. Osso confirms jihadis captured "a number of fighters."

Barzan Isso, a Kurdish journalist in Kobani, said officials have received photographs of eight dead Kurdish fighters. He says it is not clear if they were captured alive and killed later.