'Over 130,000' Syrian refugees cross Turkish border to flee IS

Turkish security forces have clashed with Kurdish refugees trying to cross the border from Syria, where they are fleeing an advance by Islamic State militants.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister said an estimated 130,000 Kurds had crossed the border in the last three days.

The Turkish force fired water cannon and tear gas at the refugees, while on the Turkish side of the border some pro-Kurdish MPs staged a sit-down protest.

Read: Turkey 'prepared for the worst' over refugee crisis

Syrian Kurdish fighters have halted an advance by Islamic State (IS) fighters east of the town of Kobani, a spokesman for the Kurdish forces said.

Thousands of Syrian Kurds have been crossing the border into Turkey fleeing the advance of IS. Read: Turkey 'prepared for the worst' over refugee crisis

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister has said his government is "prepared for the worst" as hundreds of thousands of refugees stream into his country from Syria.

"We are prepared for the worst scenario, which is an influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees," Numan Kurtulmus told reporters in the capital Ankara.

Read: 'More than 130,000' Syrians have crossed into Turkey

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister says more than 130,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed the border fleeing Islamic State militants.

The Turkish government have closed a number of border posts in a bid to reduce the influx of refugees.

The Turkish government has closed many of its border posts with Syria to stop huge numbers of Kurdish refugees entering the country.

There are also reports that Turkey wants to stop Kurds crossing into Syria to join the fight against Islamic State (IS) militants.

There were clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish protesters, with two people said to have been hospitalised.

Around 100,000 refugees have crossed into Turkey since the middle of last week as they flee the advance of IS.

The number of Syrians who have crossed the border into Turkey to escape Islamic State militants has reached 100,000, Turkiish authorities have said.

A majority of them are Syrian Kurds, and their arrival since last Thursday has pushed Syria's violent internal conflict dangerously close to the Turkish frontier.

Islamic State militants has in recent days advanced into Kurdish regions of Syria that border Turkey, where fleeing refugees reported atrocities that included stonings, beheadings and the torching of homes.

Over 60,000 refugees, mainly Syrian Kurds, have fled across the border into Turkey this weekend, Turkish authorities have said.

Some 66,000 fled violence in their homeland in less than 24 hours after Turkey opened its border to Syrians fleeing the town of Kobane in fear of an Islamic State assault.

In some places along the frontier Turkish police clashed with protesters and aid workers trying to help the refugees from Syria's bloody civil war.

About 45,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed the border into Turkey after an advance by Islamic State militants, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister has said.

"Around 45,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed the border as of now from eight entrance points along a 30 km distance from Akcakale to Mursitpinar since we opened the border yesterday," Numan Kurtulmus told CNN Turk television.

Read: Forty-nine Turkish hostages held by IS released

The president of Iraq's Kurdistan region urged the international community to "use every means" to protect the city of Kobani in neighbouring Syria from an impending attack by Islamic State militants.

IS fighters are besieging Kobani after taking control of at least 21 surrounding villages in a major assault against the predominantly Kurdish city on Syria's northern border with Turkey.

Several thousand Kurds began crossing from Syria into Turkey today, fearing the attack.

Masoud Barzan said: "IS terrorists... must be hit and destroyed wherever they are."

Earlier today French jets launched their first air strikes inside Iraq since joining the military action against IS militants.

Turkish forces have stopped thousands of Kurds fleeing Islamic State fighters in northern Syria from crossing the border.

About 3,000 people have fled their homes after the militants used tanks to seize control of 21 Kurdish villages in the Kobani area near the Turkish border.

For more than a year, Islamic State and Kurdish militias have clashed in the area, but IS appeared to have gained the upper hand since Wednesday.

A spokesman for Syria's powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party called on Kurds around the world to come to Syria to defend Kobani.