Syria rebels edge towards key IS-held town Dabiq: monitor

2016-04-05 12:06:02

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Syrian opponents attack Daesh terrorist organization's positions near al-Ahmar village of Azaz City in Aleppo Syria on April 5 2016. ( Hüseyin Nasr - Anadolu Agency )

Beirut:Rebels in Syria are edging closer to the key northern town of Dabiq held by the Islamic State group pushing the jihadists out of more than a dozen villages a monitor said Tuesday.

Rebel forces are now within 10 kilometres (six miles) of Dabiq a town of significant symbolic importance to the jihadists said Rami Abdel Rahman head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Since mid-March Islamist and rebel fighters backed by Turkey have seized control of a wide border area spanning 15 kilometres (10 miles)" said Abdel Rahman whose Britain-based group relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria.

The rebel groups including Faylaq al-Sham and the Sultan Murad Brigades have seized 14 villages since mid-March he said adding that Turkish artillery fire on IS positions had bolstered the offensive.

Dabiq a town in Syria's Aleppo province captured by IS in August 2014 is of crucial ideological importance to the group.

The town which according to a Sunni Muslim prophecy will be the site of an end-of-times battle between Christian forces and Muslim fighters has become a byword and rallying cry for IS.

The group has named its English-language online magazine "Dabiq" after the town.

AFP

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