(Photo: Sina)

DAMASCUS, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Turkish forces Tuesday shot down a Syrian helicopter in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, killing three pilots on board, a war monitor reported.

The Turkish forces targeted the helicopter over the al-Nayrab area in the northeastern countryside of Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The downing of the helicopter comes as the Syrian rebels attacked al-Nayrab on Tuesday before the Syrian army launched a counter-offensive and retook much of the town.

The incident also marks a new heightened tension between Turkey and Syria in Idlib as the confrontations happen almost daily.

A day earlier, five Turkish soldiers were killed by Syrian targeting of a Turkish-held Syrian air base in Idlib.

The Turkish forces have also been amassing forces and allied Syrian rebels to attack government positions in Idlib and retake the areas that have recently fallen to the Syrian army during the latter's wide-scale offensive over the past two months.