A flashpoint Syrian border town recently captured by rebels was reeling Tuesday after deadly clashes erupted between Syrian rebels and a Kurdish militia . The battle left dozens of fighters from both sides dead , including one prominent ethnic Kurdish leader . Read more : Turkey to Syria : Do n't send arms through our air space . `` Today it is quiet . I hope in my heart that there will be no more fighting between Kurds and Arabs because we are all brothers , '' said a Kurdish activist and resident of Ras Al Ain , who asked only to be named `` Baran '' for his safety . `` But I am sure there will be more fighting , '' he predicted , adding that both the Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters were calling for reinforcements . Read more : Turkey strikes targets in Syria in retaliation for shelling deaths . According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , at least four Kurdish militia members were killed in the clashes , as well as prominent Kurdish community leader Abed Khalil . Fourteen fighters affiliated with the rebel Free Syrian Army ( FSA ) died as well , the observatory said . A spokesman for the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria in the northern province of Hasaka confirmed the death of Khalil , but said the death toll among combatants was much higher , with 20 FSA rebels and 25 Kurdish fighters killed on Monday . `` There are many dead bodies still lying in the streets , '' said the LCC spokesman in Hasaka , who asked only to be identified as Abu Muhaned . `` They are afraid to pick them up . '' Read more : New Syrian flashpoint erupts ; Turkey releases Syrian plane . Until two weeks ago , Ras Al Ain was a safe haven that had largely escaped the conflict that is ripping Syria apart . Syrians sought shelter in this small , ethnically-mixed market town populated by Arabs , Kurds and Christians . The town was built along train tracks that divide the border between Syria and Turkey . On November 8 , Syrian rebels mounted an assault on Ras Al Ain . After less than 48 hours of fighting , they overwhelmed a small garrison of Syrian government forces there . Read more : Turkish town on Syrian border deals with fighting , ethnic differences . The rebel assault triggered an exodus of thousands of civilians , who fled across the border to Turkey . The flood of refugees increased in the following days when Syrian helicopters and jets began bombing Ras Al Ain , spreading fear throughout the neighboring Turkish town of Ceylanpinar . A team of CNN journalists visited Ras Al Ain last Friday during a lull in the regime airstrikes . By then , the town 's central bazaar district was in ruins and almost deserted , except for roving bands of rebel fighters . A few shopkeepers were seen hurriedly emptying their businesses of all merchandise , clearly afraid there would be more fighting . There were no victory scenes of jubilation among locals . Some refugees told CNN they were unhappy with the arrival of FSA rebels . That was echoed by a Kurdish umbrella group , which issued a public statement demanding that all armed groups evacuate Ras Al Ain . `` Most of the Kurds want neither the rebels nor the regime , '' said Rashid Mohammed , a Kurdish farmer who had fled to neighboring Turkey , in an interview last week with CNN . Tensions between the predominantly Arab rebels and members of the militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party ( PKK ) erupted Monday . However , Arabs and Kurds offered contradictory accounts of how the fighting began . Spokesmen for the rebels claimed their fighters came under attack when they approached a Kurdish checkpoint unarmed . Kurdish activists said snipers opened fire on a demonstration organized to demand the withdrawal of FSA fighters . `` The reason why they organized the demonstration was to bring the refugees back to Ras Al Ain and to tell the FSA to leave the town , '' said Nurooz al Ahmad , a female Kurdish activist and Ras Al Ain resident , in a phone call with CNN . `` This was a safe area before the FSA came to Ras Al Ain . '' The deadly ethnic clashes appeared to have embarrassed prominent officials in the Syrian opposition movement . `` I have been trying to organize talks between the Kurds and the FSA since yesterday , '' said Malik al Kurdi , a spokesman for the FSA based in Turkey . `` It was wrong for the FSA to enter Kurdish areas like Ras Al Ain , '' he added . `` The Kurds do n't think the way we think . They have another culture , another ideology ... this is exactly what the regime wants , to create problems between the Arabs and the Kurds so that we stop struggling to bring down the regime . '' Monday 's battle in Ras Al Ain marked the second time in less than a month that anti-regime rebels have clashed with Kurdish militia members . On October 27 , at least 21 people were killed and more than 100 kidnapped after Kurdish gunmen linked to the PKK fought FSA rebels in the battleground city of Aleppo , in northern Syria . Both factions have since reportedly worked out a cease-fire agreement .
Malik al Kurdi is located on Turkey 's border with Syria . There are conflicting reports about how the fighting began . Syrian rebels say the Syrian sparked the violence ; Kurds say snipers fired on FSA demo .