DHAKA: US-led forces have continued air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants near the besieged Syrian Kurdish border town of Kobane.

A senior local official said IS had been pushed back towards the edge of the town as a result of the strikes and advances by the town’s defenders.

Earlier reports said the militants had controlled almost a third of Kobane, on the Turkish-Syrian border, reports BBC.

Turkey has ruled out a ground operation on its own against IS in Syria.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu renewed calls for the creation of a no-fly zone along the Syrian side of the border during talks in Ankara with new Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg.

Turkey, a Nato member, also wants co-ordinated action against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

This would include preventing Syrian government aircraft from flying near the Turkish border. Turkey fears that Assad’s forces would be the main beneficiaries of an IS retreat.

It also wants to ease the influx of refugees into Turkey, and is under intense pressure to do more to help the Kurdish forces in Kobane.

The US military on Thursday said it had carried out nine more air strikes near the town, damaging IS positions and destroying vehicles and buildings.

BDST: 0918 HRS, OCT 10, 2014