Turkey shot down a Syrian government warplane on Tuesday over northwest Syria, where fighting has intensified in recent days, bringing Turkish and Russian forces close to direct conflict in the battle over the last swathe of Syria still held by rebels.  

Read more:

Is Syria a Russian success story?

It was the third Syrian warplane Turkey has shot down since Sunday in an escalating campaign against President Bashar al-Assad's forces. NATO-member Turkey supports the rebels, while Assad relies on his superpower ally Russia.  

The Turkish Defense Ministry also said the same day that one Turkish soldier has been killed and nine wounded in an attack by Syrian government forces in northwest Syria's Idlib region.

With the latest death, 57 Turkish soldiers have been killed in the conflict in the region since Turkey sent thousands of troops and military hardware there last month to support rebels fighting Syrian government forces.  
The defense ministry said that 82 Syrian army targets were struck after the attack on Turkish forces and continued to be under fire. It did not specify exactly where or when the attack occurred.  

Humanitarian crisis 

With more than a million refugees amassing since December on the Turkish border, the battle for Syria's Idlib province has brought what the United Nations fears might be the worst humanitarian crisis of the nine-year-old Syrian civil war.  

"This relief operation has been overwhelmed. There needs to be more of everything. The first thing is money," UN Under-secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock told reporters at a trans-shipment point for supplies in southern Turkey. 

Fighting was raging north of the strategic crossroads town of Saraqeb, recaptured on Monday by Syrian troops, one of several times the town, which controls access to Idlib city and Aleppo, has changed hands in recent weeks.  

Syrian state media said the army was now combing the town and had dealt heavy blows to fighters still holed up in hideouts on its outskirts. A state television correspondent said Turkey was firing artillery to halt the government advance.  

Read more:

Germany's Merkel says 'unacceptable' of Turkey to use migrants to pressure EU

Greece blocks 10,000 migrants as Turkey 'opens the gates' to Europe

Rebels said the government was aided by thousands of Iranian-backed Lebanese and Iraqi militiamen brought from other areas to help storm the town after two days of failed attempts.  

A Syrian general who has defected to the opposition, Ahmad Rahhal, said a Russian announcement on Monday that it had deployed military police in Saraqeb was aimed at blocking Turkey from trying to help rebels reclaim the town. 

Humanitarian assistance 

On Tuesday, the U.S. special representative for the region said the U.S. is willing to give NATO ally Turkey ammunition alongside humanitarian assistance in northwestern Syria where Ankara is in a deepening standoff with Russia.  

Addressing reporters in Turkey's border province of Hatay, James Jeffrey said the United States will ensure that U.S.-made equipment is ready for the Turkish military.  

The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield, said at the same briefing that Washington is examining a request for air defenses.  

The supportive words came as fighting intensified across the border.  

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday after weeks of talks between their delegations have so far failed to agree a ceasefire.  

(With input from Reuters)