(VOVworld) - US officials have held direct talks for the first time with a Kurdish political party in Syria which is participating in the fight against the Islamic State.

A Turkish armoured vehicle patrols at the Turkish-Syrian border from the southeastern village of Mursitpinar, opposite the Syrian town of Kobane (Photo: AFP/ Aris Messinis)

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday that instead of communicating through intermediaries, US officials met directly with representatives of Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union Party, known as the PYD, in Paris last weekend.

Psaki predicted the U.S. will continue to engage with the PYD, although she said it was too soon to say whether the Kurdish fighters will be given help to battle the Islamic State. She noted that the meeting "does not represent coordination".

During the past three days, a US-led coalition has increased air strikes against the IS, who are besieging the strategic city of Kobane on Syria’s border with Turkey.

The Syrian government announced Thursday that they have sent humanitarian aid to help 2,000 Kurdish families flee Kobane.

UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said the international community will do its utmost to help Syria cope with the current crisis.