Thousands of Kurds flee to Turkish border fearing ISIL offensive

On the Syrian frontier with Turkey, thousands of Syrian Kurds are on the run.

The Kurds are Muslims, but that seems to mean nothing to the ISIL forces.

“Our home was destroyed,” one man told 9NEWS.

“We have no family left, they take our women and daughters to amuse themselves.”

Turkish soldiers offering help are almost overwhelmed by the task.

The refugees have trekked hundreds of kilometres, seeking sanctuary where only a tangle of barbed wire on a barren plain marks the line between one country and another.

“We have nothing left,” one father laments.

The jihadists, he says, preach that whoever kills three Kurds will go to heaven.

French planes have become the first Coalition war jets to join the United States in bombing raids on ISIL, today destroying a supply depot.

The United States is launching its strikes from aircraft carriers in the Gulf.

Australia is still orchestrating the move of F-18 aircraft into Dubai where they will be based.