As many as 70,000 Syrian Kurds have poured into Turkey since Friday fleeing an offensive by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in northeastern Syria.

As many as 70,000 Syrian Kurds have poured into Turkey since Friday fleeing an offensive by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in northeastern Syria.

Turkey opened a stretch of the border on Friday after Kurds fled their homes, fearing an attack on the border town of Ayn al-Arab, a Kurdish commander on the ground said.

Local Kurds also said they fear a massacre in Kobani, whose strategic location has been blocking the militants from gaining more power in northern Syria. "Kobani is facing the fiercest and most barbaric attack in its history," Mohammed Saleh Muslim, the head of Syria's powerful Kurdish Democratic Union, told AP.

Meanwhile, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said that 60,000 people have crossed the 30-kilometer stretch of open border since Friday.

At least 100 villages have been evacuated since Tuesday, when the assault began. Since then, over 300 Kurdish fighters have come to Syria from Turkey to fight against the militants.

Eleven Kurdish civilians, including boys, were executed in the villages near Kobani, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UNHCR announced Sunday it "is stepping up its response to help Turkey come to the aid of an estimated 70,000 Syrians crossing into Turkey", most in the past 24 hours.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, praised Turkey for taking in the refugees. "This massive influx shows how important it is to offer and preserve asylum space for Syrians as well as the need to mobilize international support to the neighboring countries so generously hosting them," he said.