Ankara: Turkey on Tuesday shot down a Syrian fighter jet in the country's Idlib province, marking the third such incident in as many days, as steady clashes between the two national armies appeared to signal a new stage in the nine-year-old war.
The Turkish defence ministry announced on Twitter that the country's military downed an L-39 warplane belonging to Syrian forces.
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Syrian state-run television reported that Turkish forces targeted a warplane as it was carrying out operations against “terrorist groups” in the rebel-held Idlib region. It was not immediately clear what happened to the plane's crew.
Turkey has sent thousands of troops into Idlib to support the opposition fighters holed up there but hasn't been able to roll back the government's advance.
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Erdogan has said that he hoped to broker a cease-fire in Syria later this week when he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
But the Russian-backed offensive into the country's last rebel-held area has led to more and more frequent clashes between the Syrian and Turkish armies that have killed dozens on both sides. It has also threatened collapse in Turkish cooperation with Moscow, a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
With inputs from AP
