U.S. state department condemned in a statement released on July 1, 2013 Iraq’s Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party and controls most of Syria’s Kurdish regions, for the recent clashes in the town of Amuda in which several Kurds were killed.

On Monday U.S. state department released a statement condemning PYD for its “deadly response to peaceful demonstrations in the city of Amuda, where PYD authorities have killed six people, wounded dozens, and detained 90 activists during several days of clashes.”

“There is no justification for these attacks or the PYD’s attempts to repress freedoms of expression and assembly by silencing those who peacefully advocate for democracy and human rights,” the statement said. “We are appalled by reports of the PYD torturing detainees and demand that it immediately and unconditionally release all detained activists,” the statement added.

A press release by the PYD to response to U.S. state department’s condemnation rejected the accusation, and suggested that the incident had not involved peaceful demonstrations, but an attack.

“What happened in Amude was a conspiracy ambush set up by mercenaries affiliated to Jabhat Al-Nusra of 313 Brigade, while the Kurdish forces Popular Protection Units (YPG) were on their way to Qamishli,” the PYD claimed.

The PYD said that the Kurdish Asayish security forces released all suspicious persons who were proved to be innocent and only imprisoned those who were involved. “These precautions were taken by Kurdish security forces to prevent further chaos and to restore the security and stability in the city,” it said.

PYD also rejected a claim that the detainees were tortured, saying that its forces were “respecting and complying with international human rights standards.”