Isis promised an apocalyptic battle. When attacked they fled without a whimper

On Sunday Syrian rebels declared they had captured the village of Dabiq from Isis fighters, after the terrorist group had featured the village prominently in propaganda as the site of a great battle.

The village is the site of a prophesied battle during end days between Muslims and infidels, situated about nine miles from the border with Turkey, which Isis had trumpeted prominently in propaganda - the terrorist group's official magazine is named Dabiq.

On Sunday morning Isis withdrew from the town and the rebel alliance backed by Turkey announced they had taken Dabiq.

Ahmed Osman, the head of the Sultan Murad group, told Reuters:

The Daesh myth of their great battle in Dabiq is finished.

The Turkish-backed rebels will no advance on the Isis-held town of Al Bab, southeast of Dabiq, Ibrahim Kalin, President Erdogan's spokesperson, said, describing the liberation of Dabiq as:

a strategic and symbolic victory.

Isis' territory in Syria has been deteriorating this year, eaten up by Syrian Democratic Forces, an umbrella group of Kurdish and Arab militias backed by the United States, the New York Times reports.

HT New York Times

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