LAUSANNE/ BEIRUT: Rebels backed by Turkey captured the emblematic northern Syrian town of Dabiq from the Islamic State group on Sunday, dealing a major symbolic blow to the jihadists.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Turkish state media and a rebel faction said opposition forces backed by Turkish warplanes and artillery had seized control of Dabiq on Sunday.
The town is of little strategic value but holds crucial ideological importance for IS and its followers because of a Sunni prophecy that it will be the site of an apocalyptic battle between Christian forces and Muslims.
The observatory said rebel forces “captured Dabiq after IS members withdrew from the area”.
The Fastaqim Union, an Ankara-backed rebel faction involved in the battle, said Dabiq had fallen “after fierce clashes”.
Fastaqim said rebels then went on to seize several nearby towns, including Sawran, Ihtimaylat, and Salihiyah.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency also said the rebels had taken control of Dabiq and Sawran and were working to dismantle explosives laid by retreating IS fighters.
It said nine rebels were killed and 28 wounded during clashes on Saturday.
Dabiq has become a byword among IS supporters for a struggle against the West.
{{/usCountry}}Dabiq has become a byword among IS supporters for a struggle against the West.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier this week, IS downplayed the importance of the rebel advance on the town.
“These hit-and-run battles in Dabiq and its outskirts -- the lesser Dabiq battle -- will end in the greater Dabiq epic,” the group said in a pamphlet published online Thursday.
The fall of Dabiq came as a US-hosted meeting of major world and regional powers made only piecemeal headway on creating a new, multilateral track for ending the beleaguered country’s grinding war.
US Secretary of State John Kerry convened top diplomats from Russia and regional powers like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran on Saturday for a 4 1/2-hour meeting in Switzerland.
Kerry’s new approach comes after last month’s US-Russian bid to end the war collapsed in days as Syrian forces backed by Russian airpower launched an offensive on rebel-held parts of Aleppo.
Ministers put a brave face on the Lausanne meeting, which Kerry said was “exactly what we wanted” — a statement that testified mostly to low expectations.
The main result was pledges to resume contact on Monday.
“Nobody wants to do this in a sloppy way,” said Kerry, who only recently accused Moscow of war crimes.
Russia has put a priority on separating al-Qaeda-linked militants from “moderate” rebels backed by the US.