Beirut: Syrian rebels say they've captured the
village of Dabiq from Islamic State, forcing the jihadist group from a
stronghold where it has promised to fight a final, apocalyptic battle
with the West.
Its defeat at Dabiq on Sunday, which was long a
mainstay of Islamic State's propaganda, underscores the group's
declining fortunes this year as it suffered battlefield defeats in Syria
and Iraq and lost a string of senior leaders in targeted air strikes.
Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces allow a man to pass after being searched in Dabiq, Syria. Photo: APThe group, whose lightning advance through swathes of the two
countries and declaration that it had established a new caliphate
stunned world leaders in 2014, is now girding for an offensive against
Iraq's Mosul, its most prized possession.
The rebels, backed by
Turkish tanks and warplanes, took Dabiq and neighbouring Soran after
clashes on Sunday morning, said Ahmed Osman, head of the Sultan Murad
group, one of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions involved in the
fighting.
"The Daesh myth of their great battle in Dabiq is finished," he told Reuters, using a pejorative name for Islamic State.
Turkish
President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said that Dabiq's liberation was a
"strategic and symbolic victory" against Islamic State. The Free Syrian Army is an umbrella group for rebels seeking to
overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in a civil war that has killed
hundreds of thousands and displaced millions, dragging in regional and
global powers and creating space for jihadists. Dabiq was the
location of the killing in 2014 of Peter Kassig, an American aid worker
held hostage, by Mohammed al-Emwazi, better known as Jihadi John.
Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces patrol in Dabiq, Syria. Photo: AP
However, it has appeared to back away from Dabiq's symbolism
since advances by the FSA groups backed by Turkey had put it at risk of
capture, saying in a more recent statement that this battle was not the
one described in the prophecy.
Peter Kassig standing in front of a truck filled with supplies for
Syrian refugees. Islamic State militants later beheaded him. Photo: APThe village, at the foot of a small hill in the fertile plains of
Syria's northwest about 14 km from the Turkish border and 33 km north of
Aleppo, has little strategic significance in its own right. Reuters Source: Brisbane
However, it has appeared to back away from Dabiq's symbolism
since advances by the FSA groups backed by Turkey had put it at risk of
capture, saying in a more recent statement that this battle was not the
one described in the prophecy.
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