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The rebels, whom
Turkey has supported with tanks and air strikes, had been
pushing towards the IS stronghold of Dabiq, a village with
symbolic importance to the jihadists.
The IS attack, which began late on Friday, retook villages
including Akhtarin and pushed towards Turkman Bareh, some three
km (two miles) east of Dabiq, said the British-based
Observatory, which tracks the war using contacts on the ground.
Turkey's military said two Syrian rebels had been killed and
nine wounded in fighting against IS. It said Turkish warplanes
had hit 14 Islamic State targets over the last 24 hours and that
an air strike by the U.S.-led coalition killed two IS militants.
Ankara launched its first major military incursion into Syria in
August, deploying tanks and warplanes to support insurgents it
backs in an operation dubbed "Euphrates Shield".
The operation has separately targeted Islamic State and Kurdish
militants, whose presence along its border Turkey sees as a
threat.
Turkish attacks against the Kurdish YPG militia have caused
tension with Washington, for whom the YPG has been an effective
partner on the ground for its air campaign against IS.
(Reporting by John Davison; additional reporting by Daren Butler
in Istanbul; editing by Mark Heinrich and Stephen Powell)
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