Syrian opposition fighters on Sunday (October 16th) dealt a major symbolic blow to the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) by capturing the town of Dabiq, AFP reported.

Opposition fighters backed by Turkish warplanes and artillery on Sunday seized control of Dabiq, a town in Aleppo province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The town is of little strategic value, but holds crucial ideological importance for ISIL and its followers because of a prophecy that states it will be the site of an end-of-times battle.

Opposition fighters went on to seize several nearby towns, including Sawran, Ihtimaylat and Salihiyah.

Nine opposition fighters were killed and 28 wounded during fighting to capture the towns, Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Clashes also took place in Aleppo's northern and southern outskirts on Sunday, as well as in the city centre, the Observatory said.

Airstrikes on opposition-held eastern areas killed 31 people, including 15 civilians, the Observatory said, with Syrian state media reporting that opposition fire on regime-controlled districts of Aleppo left three dead.

Meanwhile, a suspected ISIL suicide bomber blew himself up during an anti-terror raid in the Turkish city of Gaziantep near the border with Syria on Sunday, killing three police officers.

Five police and four Syrians were injured, local governor Ali Yerlikaya said.

A few hours later, a second suicide bomber detonated his explosives, killing himself but without causing any further fatalities, officials said.