BEIRUT — As Turkey sought to increase its military presence along its border with Syria, opposition fighters inside Syria were waging an offensive Tuesday to seize a strategic city in Idlib province.
The offensive led to some of the most intense government air attacks on the city of Maarat al-Nuaman to date and left more than 60 people dead, at least 40 of them civilians, activists said. They were among at least 115 people killed across the country Tuesday in the ongoing conflict.
The clashes and government airstrikes came as NATO said Tuesday that it has plans in place to protect and defend Turkey if necessary after almost a week of cross-border shelling between the two countries.
