Turkey downs one more fighter jet belonging to Assad regime in northwest Idlib

Turkey has downed an L-39 type warplane belonging to the Assad regime as part of its ongoing military operation in northern Syria, the National Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry also gave out its 24-hour update on the Operation Spring Shield, saying 327 Syrian regime soldiers were neutralized, and 1 jet, 1 UAV, 6 tanks, 5 howitzer/rocket launchers and 2 air defense systems destroyed.

It was the third regime warplane Turkey has shot down since Sunday in an escalating campaign against Bashar al-Assad's forces that threatens to bring NATO-member Turkey into direct confrontation with Assad's superpower ally Russia.

A missile fired by Syrian regime forces on the city of Idlib, meanwhile, killed nine civilians in the province of the same name that is Syria's last opposition bastion.

The pro-regime forces have since December battled to retake the rebel-stronghold Idlib.

The deadly offensive has caused almost a million people to flee their homes and shelters, and triggered a direct Turkish military operation last week.

A Turkish F-16 downed the regime plane over Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said.

Pro-Assad news agency SANA also quoted a military source as confirming one of its planes was downed, after two others suffered the same fate on Sunday.

"One of our warplanes carrying out a mission in southern Idlib... was hit by a missile fired by Turkish forces, leading to its downing," the source said.

Also on Tuesday, a surface-to-surface missile fired by regime forces hit an Idlib residential neighbourhood, killing nine civilians including five children, the Observatory said.

That brings the civilian death toll since December to more than 470, according to the monitor.

Turkey on Sunday launched Operation Spring Shield after at least 34 Turkish soldiers were killed and dozens injured in an Assad regime airstrike in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, just across Turkey's southern border.

Turkey's only target during the operation were Assad regime troops and equipment in Idlib under the nation's right to self-defense, stressed Akar.

Turkish soldiers were killed while working to protect local civilians under a September 2018 deal with Russia, which prohibits acts of aggression in Idlib.

But more than 1,300 civilians have since been killed in attacks by Assad regime and Russian forces in the zone, as the cease-fire continues to be violated, sending about a million refugees toward Turkey's border with Syria.