Iran criticized the "passivity of the international community" Tuesday regarding the besieged Syrian border town of Kobane and said the world should help President Bashar Assad confront "the terrorists".

The comments by foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkhan came shortly after Turkey's president said Kobane was on the verge of falling to jihadists fighting for the Islamic State (IS) group.

Iran said Tuesday it had seized explosives destined for an attack on one of its holy cities and that more than 130 members of militant extremist groups had been arrested.

Turkey is ready to take any kind of action to combat jihadists in Syria but only if the international community creates a coordinated strategy against the regime of President Bashar Assad, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

Asked in an interview with CNN broadcast late Monday if Turkey could send troops into Syria, Davutoglu replied this could only happen if "others do their own part."

Kurdish militia backed by US-led air strikes fought fierce street battles Tuesday with advancing jihadists whose three-week assault on a key Syrian border town has left hundreds reported dead.

The fall of Kobane to the Islamic State (IS) group would mark a major victory for the jihadists, who are fighting for a long stretch of the border with Turkey for their self-proclaimed "Islamic caliphate".

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour expressed hope that the case of the abducted soldiers and policemen would witness a breakthrough in the upcoming days, stressing that “sacrifices” should be made.

“The cabinet will continue the serious negotiations that should lead to the release of the abductees,” Abou Faour told reporters at the Grand Serail after meeting with Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

A Franciscan priest and several other Christians have been seized by Al-Qaida affiliate Al-Nusra Front in a village in northwestern Syria, the Franciscan mission to the Holy Land said Tuesday.

"On the night of October 5th, Father Hanna Jallouf of the Custody of the Holy Land, parish priest at Qunyeh, Syria, was taken by some brigades linked to Jabhat Al-Nusra," a statement from the Custody of the Holy Land said.

Pro-Kurdish protesters clashed Tuesday with Turkish police in Istanbul in a new show of anger over the lack of action by the government against jihadists fighting for a key Syrian town.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has so far not intervened militarily against Islamic State (IS) jihadists fighting for the Kurdish border town of Kobane, to the fury of Turkey's Kurds.

Fresh air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition on Tuesday hit positions held by Islamic State jihadists in the southwest of the key Syrian border town of Kobane, according to an Agence France Presse journalist just across the border in Turkey.

The strikes came a day after the extremists pushed into Kobane, seizing three districts in the city's east after fierce street battles with its Kurdish defenders. 

Police are questioning a 26-year-old Japanese Muslim on suspicion of trying to join Islamic State jihadists in Syria, media reports and the top government spokesman said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam expressed disappointment on Tuesday from the procrastination regarding the case of the abducted soldiers and policemen, saying that he didn't make any pledges.

“I was transparent since the beginning of the crisis, announcing that I don't have a magic wand,” Salam told al-Mustaqbal newspaper.