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Kurdish forces advanced Sunday to the gates of a Syrian town and clashed with ISIS jihadis in an upsurge in violence that saw Turkey open its border to fleeing civilians, AFP reports.

Backed by Syrian rebel fighters and U.S.-led airstrikes, the Kurdish militia pressed its offensive on the town of Tal Abyad, a strategic supply route from Turkey to ISIS’ self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa.

Hussein Khojer, a commander with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), said fighting raged on the eastern edges of Tal Abyad, just 50 meters from the town itself.

“We are fighting for control of the first checkpoint,” Khojer said, adding that the advance came after three days’ of heavy clashes.

He said ISIS had tried to block the advance by blowing up two bridges.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Kurdish fighters “just waded across” and had reached the town’s southeastern outskirts but had yet to enter.

Kurdish sources say the goal is to sever a crucial supply line for the jihadis, who have been accused of bringing in foreign fighters and supplies across the Turkish border.

Fearing a major battle, Arab and Kurdish civilians fled for the border fence with Turkey, where thousands had been clustered behind barbed wire at the Akcakale crossing.