The US-led coalition has carried out new air strikes against jihadists from the Islamic State group outside a key Syrian Kurdish border town.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the coalition hit at least four areas late on Friday on the southern and southeastern fronts outside Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab.

The group says the strikes destroyed some military material belonging to IS, which fired dozens of shells into the town on Friday after advancing to its outskirts.

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An activist from the town, Mustafa Ebdi, also reported the strikes.

“They hit last night mostly on the eastern front,” he said on Saturday.

The raids followed a day of relentless bombardment of Kobane by IS forces who have surrounded the town, Syria’s third largest Kurdish town.

Both Ebdi and the Observatory said IS forces had fired at least 80 shells into Kobane on Friday, as they attempted to force their way into the strategic border town.

Ebdi said Kurdish forces working with Arab rebels were able to repel an evening attack by IS jihadists but fighting was ongoing.

The Observatory too reported heavy fighting on Saturday morning, particularly on the southwestern front, adding that IS was continuing to shell the town.

There was no immediate death toll from the fighting overnight.

But Ebdi said there was some optimism among the fighters in the town on Saturday.

“Daesh fighters were saying they would be praying Eid prayers in Kobane,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for IS and referring to the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival being marked on Saturday.