Turkish forces have kept up their offensive against Kurdish militants in the northern Syrian Afrin region for a third day as both sides continued to claim victory against the other.

The Anadolu news agency reported that Turkish-led forces had captured the strategic Bursaya Mountain today. The pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak showed footage of what it claimed were Turkish forces and their Free Syrian Army (FSA) allies atop the mountain hauling off militants allied with the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) amid loud chants of “Allahu akbar," or "God is great." A journalist recording the moment joined in the celebrations.

Hours later, CNNTurk reported that the FSA had withdrawn from Bursaya amid YPG claims that they had won back control of the hilltop in a fourth and final assault. Anadolu acknowledged in a subsequent report that the FSA had pulled back.

Anadolu also reported that Turkish troops had captured the Afrin villages of Shankal, Qorne, Balia and Adah Manli, along with some other rural areas. But the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is seen as a fairly impartial monitor of the nearly seven-year-long Syrian conflict, said the YPG had won back two of the villages and that violent clashes continued between Turkish-led forces and the YPG.