DHAKA: The Syrian military has stepped up air strikes on rebel areas dramatically, carrying out more than 200 in recent days, opposition activists say.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the raids took place mostly in western areas between midnight on Sunday and noon on Tuesday.

The UK-based group said there were many casualties, but did not give a figure.

The intensified strikes come as US-led forces continue to bomb Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq.

US and Arab jets have been attacking IS positions around the northern Syrian town of Kobane, where Kurdish fighters are under siege.

In an interview with the BBC, the US special envoy for the global coalition to counter IS defended the airdrops of military supplies into Kobane despite some of them ending up in the hands of the jihadist group.

John Allen said only one of 28 bundles of small arms, ammunition and other weapons supplied by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq might have ended up in the hands of the militants.

Shortly after he spoke, the Kurdistan Parliament approved the deployment of about 120 Peshmerga fighters to Kobane.

Turkey signalled on Monday that it would allow Peshmerga to cross its border with Syria. It has refused to allow Turkish Kurds to do so.

The BBC's Kasra Naji, who is on the Turkish side of the border, says it is unclear when the Peshmerga will arrive. Officials say they will bring heavy weapons - something Kurds in Kobane say they desperately need.

BDST: 0853 HRS, OCT 23, 2014