Image copyright Reuters Image caption The advance comes after Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces captured the border town of Jarablus at the end of August

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are advancing on Dabiq, a symbolic stronghold of so-called Islamic State.

The small town holds great value to IS because of a prophecy of an apocalyptic battle, and features heavily in its propaganda.

The operation began as US and Russian envoys met in Switzerland to discuss possible routes to a new ceasefire.

No statement was issued after the talks although both the US and Russian envoys spoke of "ideas" emerging.

Since a brief truce collapsed last month, Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes have intensified their bombardment of rebel-held areas in Aleppo.

Aid agencies say a 72-hour ceasefire is urgently needed to allow supplies in and civilians out of devastated areas in the east of the city.

Apocalyptic prophecy

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed fighters were moving on Dabiq, which lies about 10km (6 miles) from the Turkish border.

Rebel fighters backed by Turkish airstrikes have been edging closer to the town for days, seizing villages around it and all but isolating it.

A bombardment was taking place as part of the offensive on Saturday, a monitoring group and a rebel commander said.

Dabiq is important to IS because it is named in Islamic apocalyptic prophecies as the site of an end-of-times showdown between Muslims and their enemies. The militant group named its magazine after the town.

The advance on Dabiq is part of a wider offensive launched by an alliance of Syrian rebel groups, supported by Turkish forces, in late August.

They are trying to drive IS militants and Syrian Kurdish fighters from an area along Turkey's border with Syria. Since it began, they have captured the key towns of Jarablus and al-Rai.

'Different approaches'

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met delegates from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Qatar in Lausanne to discuss ways to broker a new ceasefire.

Both sides had played down expectations of any breakthrough.

Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov met privately for 40 minutes ahead of the wider talks, which lasted more than four hours.

The group made no statement after the meeting, but Mr Lavrov told Russian media that the participants agreed to continue contacts.

Both envoys spoke of "ideas" emerging, and Mr Kerry said it might be possible to shape "some different approaches" from the meeting.

"There were some difficult moments, where there was obviously tension, but everybody was constructive," he said.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Rebel-held areas of Aleppo have faced daily air strikes

'Little agreement': By Imogen Foulkes, BBC News, Lausanne

Expectations for these talks were never high, but their break up after less than five hours is a further sign of how little agreement there is over how to bring peace to Syria.

The US has accused Russia of war crimes because of its support for the bombing of Aleppo. Moscow has suggested Washington is not really trying to isolate Islamist extremists from more moderate opposition groups.

Regional powers like Iran are fighting side by side with Syrian troops. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are arming the opposition.

These countries wield huge influence in Syria, but their talks brought no apparent agreement and no public statement. When pushed, as the motorcades headed to the airport, one western diplomat simply described them as businesslike and courteous.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to "keep cleaning" Aleppo of rebels and told a Russian newspaper that winning in the city would be a "springboard" to winning in the rest of the country.

Organisations including Save the Children, Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee have issued a plea "to establish a ceasefire of at least 72 hours in east Aleppo" to allow evacuations and delivery of aid.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Aid groups say a truce is needed in Aleppo to allow supplies in and let civilians out

There are now no safe areas left in rebel-held parts of the city, according to REACH, an organisation that contacts people there regularly in order to gather humanitarian reports.

About 275,000 people live in the besieged areas, and aid organisations have not been able to get to them since the siege resumed on 4 September.

More than 370 people, including nearly 70 children, have been killed in the bombardment of eastern Aleppo, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The monitor said dozens of civilians including children have also died in rebel bombardment of western Aleppo, which is controlled by the Syrian government.

A war that started with an uprising against President al-Assad has now split Syria into many parts. It has been going on for over five years and it has claimed 300,000 lives.</s>Taking control of Dabiq had eliminated the threat to Turkey from rockets fired by the jihadists, the Turkish Armed Forces said in a written statement.

It said that in the last 24 hours of clashes, nine Turkey-backed rebels were killed and 24 were wounded while "many" Islamic State fighters were killed. The operation, dubbed "Euphrates Shield" was launched in late August.

The Syrian rebels, backed by Turkish tanks and warplanes, said they had taken Dabiq after clashes on Sunday morning, forcing Islamic State from a stronghold where it had promised to fight a final, apocalyptic battle with the West.

President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Sunday Dabiq's liberation was a "strategic and symbolic victory" against Islamic State.

He told Reuters it was important strategically that the Turkey-backed forces continue their advance toward the Islamic State stronghold of al-Bab.</s>A Syrian opposition monitoring group says Turkey-backed opposition fighters have begun an offensive under the cover of Turkish airstrikes to capture the northern Syrian town of Dabiq from the Islamic State group.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the attack was preceded with intense shelling on Saturday.

Turkey-backed rebel commander Col. Abdul-Razzaq Freiji said participants of the Operation Euphrates Shield are bombarding Dabiq and the nearby town of Soran in preparation for an all-out ground offensive on the two areas.

The town of Dabiq is central to IS propaganda. The extremists, citing ancient prophecy, believe Dabiq will be the scene of an apocalyptic battle between Christianity and Islam. The group named its online magazine after the town, which it has occupied since August 2014.</s>TURKISH-backed rebels have captured the symbolically important Syrian town of Dabiq from the Islamic State group, rebel commanders and monitors say.

 The rebels took Dabiq after “IS members withdrew”, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

 The small northern town holds great value for IS because of a prophecy of an apocalyptic battle, and features heavily in its propaganda.

 The advance on Dabiq is part of a wider offensive by Syrian rebel groups.

 Ahmed Osman, the commander of the Sultan Murad rebel group, told Reuters news agency on Sunday morning that the group had also recaptured the neighbouring village of Soran.

 The battle for Dabiq has been building for weeks – with one village after another being seized from IS by rebel fighters backed by Turkish airstrikes.

 In the end, it seems to have fallen swiftly after the announcement of the final assault on Saturday.

 Strategically, it’s not a major prize. But IS has embraced it as a symbol of its apocalyptic vision of all-out confrontation with its enemies.

 The town is named in one Hadith – or saying by the Prophet Mohammed – as the site of the climactic battle between Muslims and non-Muslims before the end of the world. The group named its online magazine after it, but has downplayed its significance recently, saying this battle is not the epic that was prophesied.

 The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 1,200 IS fighters had been brought in to defend Dabiq.

 A commander of one rebel group, the Hamza Brigade, told the Associated Press that resistance from IS was “minimal”.

 Saif Abu Bakr said IS withdrew towards the larger town of Al-Bab to the south.

 He said about 2,000 rebel fighters were involved in the offensive.

 They were supported by Turkish tanks and artillery, and airstrikes from international coalition warplanes.

 Dabiq is just 10km (six miles) from the border with Turkey.

 In August, Turkey launched an offensive to clear the border region of militants, meaning both IS and Kurdish rebels fighting IS.

 In September, the Turkish prime minister said the 91km borderline was “entirely secured” and “all the terrorist organisations were pushed back”.

 A war that started with an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad has now split Syria into many parts. It has been going on for more than five years and it has claimed 300,000 lives.

 US Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting the foreign ministers of France and Germany as part of a renewed attempt to broker peace in Syria.

 Last month a ceasefire collapsed after just a few days and since then Syrian forces, backed by Russia, have been bombing the city of Aleppo, which has become the epicentre of the conflict.

 On Saturday Mr Kerry met the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, along with representatives from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, all of which countries back distinct groups in the long-running war.

 No concrete deal or ceasefire was forthcoming but both the US and Russia spoke of “ideas” emerging.
Turkish-backed rebels advance on the symbolic ISIL-controlled town of Dabiq, in northern Syria. ISIL believes Dabiq is the location where an apocalyptic battle will take place shortly before the end of the world.