Syrian opposition groups backed by Turkey and a US-led coalition are closing in on the Daesh-held village of Dabiq, in the countryside of Aleppo.
Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters have been pushing southwards into Daesh’s territory in an operation backed by Turkey since 24 August, and have taken villages near Dabiq in recent days. The plan was to reach Dabiq within 48 hours, one of the group’s leaders said, adding that Daesh had placed mines around the area.
“If matters proceed as planned, within 48 hours we will be in Dabiq,” Ahmed Osman, commander of the Sultan Murad FSA group, said in a voice recording sent to Reuters.
The US-led coalition against Daesh is actively supporting opposition fighters as they advance “to within a few kilometres of [its] weakening stronghold” of Dabiq, Brett McGurk, Washington’s special envoy for the coalition, said in a Tweet.
Washington believes taking Dabiq could strike at Daesh’s morale as it prepares to fend off expected offensives against Iraq’s Mosul and Syria’s Raqqa, the largest cities held by the jihadists, officials from a coalition country said.
Turkish warplanes hit Daesh targets in the areas of Dabiq, Akhtarin and Turkman Bareh, destroying nine buildings including a command post, gun positions and an ammunition depot, a statement by Turkey’s military revealed today.
The latest fighting marks an escalation since Turkish troops crossed the border into Syria on 24 August to back opposition fighters battling Daesh in an operation Ankara says is aimed at removing the border threat the jihadists pose.
Nearly a dozen airstrikes by the US-backed coalition killed 13 militants, while the Turkish army said it also fired on Daesh from inside Turkey after the jihadists used rockets to target its border town of Kilis.