IS jihadists flee 'doomsday' town

Turkish-backed rebels captured the emblematic northern Syrian town of Dabiq from the Islamic State group yesterday, dealing a major symbolic blow to the jihadists.

The defeat for IS came as US Secretary of State John Kerry was due to meet European allies in London as part of a new diplomatic push to end Syria's conflict, which has left more than 300,000 people dead since 2011.

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 yesterday.

The town, in Syria's northern province of Aleppo, is of little strategic value.

But Dabiq holds crucial ideological importance for IS and its followers because of a Sunni prophecy that states it will be the site of an apocalyptic battle between Christian forces and Muslims.

The Observatory, a Britain-based monitoring group, said rebel forces "captured Dabiq after IS members withdrew from the area".

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the rebels had taken control of Dabiq and surrounding villages 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, with Washington and its allies bombing jihadists portrayed as modern-day Crusaders.

Earlier this week, IS downplayed the importance of the rebel advance on the town.

Turkey launched an unprecedented operation inside Syria on August 24, helping Syrian rebels to rid its frontier of IS jihadists and Syrian Kurdish militia.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said Turkey would push further south to create a 5,000-square-kilometre (1,900 square-mile) safe zone in Syria.

Kerry was to fly to London yesterday to brief Washington's European allies after "brainstorming" talks in Lausanne with the main players in Syria's conflict. But it did not produce a concrete plan to restore the truce that collapsed amid bitter recriminations between Washington and Moscow and new fighting on the ground.

Kerry is expected to meet on Sunday with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany, but hopes for a breakthrough have been dim.

British foreign minister Boris Johnson is expected to propose "no-bombing zones" for Syria -- including Aleppo -- during the meeting, the Sunday Times reported.