Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan salutes the crowd of supporters in his hometown of Rize, on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. Erdogan said Saturday that Turkey is moving into Dabiq, Syria, and will declare a "terror-free safe zone" in the region. ((Yasmin Bulul, Presidential Press Service, Pool photo via AP)

October 15, 2016
By Bassen Moure

Beirut (AP) — Syrian opposition fighters (click here) backed by Turkish airstrikes launched an offensive Saturday to try to capture Dabiq from the Islamic State group, which assigns special status to the northern Syrian town in its ideology and propaganda.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack was preceded by intense shelling. It said that Turkey-backed opposition fighters captured three nearby villages, encircling Dabiq and cutting off all supply routes.
Turkey sent troops and tanks into northern Syria in August to help opposition forces recapture IS strongholds and curb the advance of a U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia, which Ankara views as an extension of Turkey's outlawed Kurdish separatists.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking in Rize on the Black Sea coast, said "we entered Jarablus, and then al-Rai, and now we are moving where? To Dabiq. We will declare a terror-free safe zone of 5,000 (square) kilometers." He was referring to areas in Syria already captured by Turkish troops and Turkey-backed opposition forces....