Kurd's YPG declares new province in northern Syria

Kurdish-led authorities in northern Syria have declared a new province including a town on the border with Turkey captured from Islamic State in June, a Kurdish official said on Wednesday, formalizing Kurdish control over the border area, Reuters reported

The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia captured the town of Tel Abyad with the help of U.S.-led air strikes. The new administrative province, or canton, is the fourth declared by the Kurdish administration in northern Syria.

"It has been officially announced as a canton," said Delil Osman, a media official in the Kurdish-led administration. He was speaking via Skype, and did not say when the announcement was made. 

Arab activists north Syria condemned the declaration of the new canton, saying Kurds driving into partition what may undermine the historical relations between Kurds and other ethnic communities living north Syria.

A U.N. report accused Kurdish militias of forced displacement against Arabs and committing crimes branded as war crimes.