More than 3,000 Syrians fleeing clashes between Islamic State and Kurdish fighters have crossed into Turkey since Wednesday, a Turkish government official said.

Kurdish forces are trying to drive the militants out of Tel Abyad, in Syria's Hassakah province, close to the Turkish border town of Akcakale.

The official said 3,337 Arab Syrians had crossed into Turkey in less than two days to avoid the clashes and bombing raids carried out against IS by a U.S.-led coalition.

The Syrians were being given biometric registration and health checks at Akcakale border crossing, the official added.

Turkey has already accepted 1.8 million people fleeing the bloodshed in neighboring Syria, officially maintaining an open-border policy for refugees throughout the four-year-old civil war.