Kobane is surrounded by the Turkish border to the north and government forces on all sides, and is around 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the Kurds' stronghold in Syria's far northeast.

As Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa seeks to extend his control across the country and Kurdish forces have withdrawn from areas near Kobane under military pressure, residents of surrounding villages have flooded to the city.

"We've been without electricity and water for three days," resident Seifeddine Khodr, 37, told AFP by telephone, as the internet connection there is patchy.

"Flour and food supplies aren't getting in," and the influx of displaced people has increased demand, he said.

"People are afraid, we beg the world to intervene."

After months of battle that destroyed much of the town, Kurdish forces in 2015 drove IS jihadists from Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, which became a symbol of their first victory against IS.

It took another four years for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by an US-led international coalition, to defeat the jihadists territorially in Syria.

Syria's new Islamist authorities are demanding that the SDF disband, and Washington has said the purpose for its alliance with the Kurdish-led force has largely ended.

- 'Save Kobane' -

Authorities on Tuesday announced a four-day ceasefire with the SDF that has generally held, despite each side accusing the other of violations.

Mustafa Ahmad, 55, fled to Kobane with his nine children from a nearby village as government forces advanced.

"We didn't bring anything with us. I'm staying with relatives," he said, adding that he spent hours searching for milk for his 18-month-old son.

"Our situation is catastrophic. There is no electricity, heating or food supplies," Ahmad said.

The Kurds' administration in a statement accused "armed factions allied with the government" of "intensifying their attacks", particularly on Kobane.

It said the city was "without water, electricity and basic services due to continuous attacks on its infrastructure", adding that Kobane is "isolated from the rest of the world due to internet cuts".

Syria's energy ministry denied that water had been cut off intentionally, saying a "technical fault" had interrupted supply and that tensions were preventing teams from carrying out repairs.

Gharib Hasso, head of the Kurdish administration's ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kobane was "symbolic for the whole world" but now "it is attacked and surrounded".

The city's enemies "want to take revenge on Kobane and if they enter, there will be massacres", he charged.

Nishtiman, a young journalist who declined to provide her full name, said she saw hundreds of families sleeping in the streets in freezing winter temperatures, while water, power and medicines were lacking.

"Kobane is besieged," she said, crying and begging the international community to "please, save Kobane".

"Kobane, who faced ISIS... is now alone," she said, warning that her phone's battery was about to die.