Alessandro De Ponti, 23 -- who was hit near the border while trying to enter without valid papers -- was in a serious but not critical condition, Italian media said.

Members of the Kurdish Democratic Party intercepted De Ponti in a zone fraught with fighting, with the young Italian taking a bullet to the shoulder.

De Ponti could face arrest for entering the country without valid papers.

A member of a far-left Italian collective "Tana Libera Tutti", De Ponti is believed to have been trying to bring humanitarian aid to the war-torn region. He left Italy for the Middle East in April, according to Italian news channel SkyTG24.

De Ponti was transferred to a hospital in Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region.

A small number of Western volunteers are believed to be fighting with Kurdish militias in both Syria and Iraq.