Turkish President Recep Erdogan says Syrian border town Kobani is "about to fall" to Islamic State militants and that a ground operation is needed to defeat the group.

It comes as fresh airstrikes targeted fighters who have been bombarding the town with machine-gun fire and shells.

Plumes of smoke billowed into the air over Kobani after jets launched the attack, believed to have been part of the US-led mission.

Sky's foreign affairs editor Sam Kiley says there are concerns that Kurdish fighters - who are taking on I-S - are losing patience because they urgently need more airstrikes:

Hundreds of people are understood to have fled the Syrian town on the Turkish border as Islamic State fighters battled Kurdish forces for control.

Yesterday two IS black flags were raised on the outskirts of Kobani.

IS began its advance on Kobani on 16 September, forcing around 186,000 people to flee across the border into Turkey. It has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq after declaring an Islamic caliphate in June, including a long stretch of the Syria-Turkey border.

The Turkish parliament authorised involvement in the campaign against IS last week, but no military operations have been announced.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the organisation will protect Turkey if it comes under attack.