HASAKAH, Syria
At least 52 people, including women and children, were killed Sunday in northeastern Syria by a group with links to outlawed terrorist organization PKK , according to a coalition of Syrian opposition groups.
The victims were killed by People's Protection Units, the official armed wing of the Kurdish Supreme Committee, the governing body of so-called Syrian Kurdistan, according to the Syrian Revolution General Commission. The Kurdish Supreme Committee was formed in 2012.
A Syrian Local Coordination Committee said the protection units captured the Tal Khalil and Hadeyate villages in Kamishli city in northeastern Syria, on the border with Turkey, and executed 52 people.
The Syrian Revolution General Commission, a coalition of 40 opposition groups, described the incident as a "massacre."
The U.K.-based Syrian Network for Human Rights confirmed the executions.
Syria has been gripped by almost constant fighting since the regime launched a violent crackdown in response to anti-government protests in March 2011, triggering a conflict that has spiralled into a civil war.
The U.N. has stopped updating its death toll for the country because an official count had become too difficult to verify. At least 100,000 deaths were recorded in the last official count, in July 2013.
More than 6.5 million people have been internally displaced, according to the U.N. And nearly 2.5 million more Syrians are registered as refugees in neighboring countries, including Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.
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