Turkey-backed Syrian rebels say capture village from Kurdish forces

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Turkey-backed Syrian rebel force captured a village from Kurdish YPG forces north of Aleppo on Saturday, the spokesman for the rebel force said.

"There is military action, and the village of Maranaz has been liberated," said Yousef Hammoud, the spokesman for the Syrian National Army, a force formed from a number of factions of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA).

The YPG could not immediately be reached for comment.

The village is part of a YPG-held piece of territory north of Aleppo including the town of Tel Rifaat that the FSA groups have long vowed to recover. "Our aspiration is to reach Tel Rifaat and what is beyond it," Hammoud said.

(Reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi and Khalil Ashawi; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Hugh Lawson)