Kurdish fighters backed by the Free Syrian Army attempted to hold back the advance of ISIL militants close to a strategic Syrian border town on Saturday.

Calling themselves Islamic State or ISIL, the jihadists have advanced on the Kurdish enclave of Kobani in recent days, as part of their insurgency across large parts of Syria and Iraq.

The siege of Kobani has fueled Kurdish anger and created the largest single outflow of refugees since the Syrian conflict began, according to the United Nations.

The fightback is complicated by the involvement of PKK rebels, the Kurdish group outlawed by Turkey.

Amid the ISIL onslaught, PKK leaders called on Turks of Kurdish origin to volunteer to fight the militants.

Added to that, allegations that Turkey is collaborating with ISIL have seen thousands of Kurdish men amass at the border, despite MP Ertugrul Kürkcu admitting they had little proof.

“We haven’t seen positive evidence to charge the Turkish government with directly joining in the ISIL