Rebel forces have taken back the northern Syrian village of Dabiq from the Islamic State group that controlled the area until now. The development was confirmed on Sunday by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor based out of the United Kingdom.

The rebels were backed by Turkish forces. Ahmed Osman, the commander of the Sultan Murad rebel group, told Reuters that they have also seized the neighbouring village of Soran. "The Daesh myth of their great battle in Dabiq is finished," he said. The victory of the rebel forces is particularly important because Dabiq figures in the terrorist group’s propaganda and its prophecy of an apocalyptic battle with “infidels”.