At least 15 Turkish and US-backed Syrian rebels have been killed in fighting as the opposition edges closer towards Dabiq, an Isis village in northern Syria of great importance to the terror group’s ideology. “If matters proceed as planned, within 48 hours we will be in Dabiq,” Ahmed Osman, commander of the Sultan Murad Free Syrian Army (FSA) group, told Reuters on Monday.

US special presidential envoy to the coalition against Isis Brett McGurk also said on Twitter that rebels had advanced to “within a few kilometres of [Isis’] weakening stronghold Dabiq.”

Dabiq, first captured by Isis in August 2014, occupies a central place in Isis’ version of Muslim theology. The militants say that a battle there between Islamic and infidel Christian forces will herald the beginning of the apocalypse.

While the village is not militarily important to the so-called caliphate, Isis’ online propaganda magazine takes its name from the town, and losing control of it would be a significant ideological blow.

Issue 12 of Isis' propaganda magazine, Dabiq

Isis has sent an additional 800 fighters to defend it from advancing FSA rebels in recent months, and heavily mined the surrounding countryside, Osman said. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported it was a combination of mortar fire and landmines that killed the FSA rebels.

A traumatized toddler clings onto a nurse at a SAMS hospital in Aleppo

Monday’s official death toll among Turkish-backed rebels fighting in northern Syria is the highest since the FSA groups began pushing into Isis territory on August 24th.

In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Show all 11 1 /11 In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Women and children celebrating after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A man cuts the beard of a civilian who was freed from Isis by the SDF in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Women carry newborn babies while running after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman freed from Isis hugs an SDF fighter in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman adding her veil to a pile of niqabs burning in Manbij, Syria, after being freed from Isis on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Children celebrating on top of a lorry after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A man and child freed from Isis by the SDF in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman carrying her children walks towards SDF fighters after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman and child freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij An SDF fighter kisses a crying man who was freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Hundreds of civilians freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters

Several villages near Dabiq have been recaptured in recent days, and the Turkish military said its warplanes have hit several Isis targets in and around Dabiq on Monday, including a command post and an ammunition depot.

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