Russia has reportedly intervened to halt fighting between the Syrian army and Turkish backed FSA rebels in northern Syria. <br /><br /> The two sides are said to have confronted each other in a push to oust ISIL out of the city of al-Bab, the extremist group’s last major stronghold in Aleppo province. <br /><br /> The clash has raised concerns that parallel offensives to take the city could ignite new wave of fighting between government forces and Syrian rebels. <br /><br /> While the Syrian army has mounted its own rapid advance on al-Bab in recent weeks, Turkey and its rebel allies have also escalated attacks on the ISIL bastion, seizing the outskirts of the city. <br /><br /> The Turkish military said it hit 11 targets in the Syrian town and killed 23 militants on Thursday, the same day three of its soldiers were killed in a Russian airstrike. <br /><br /> Addressing the media, Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said: “He (President Putin) has insisted this was an accident and they are sorry. We will co-ordinate better and take all the necessary measures to prevent similar incidents.<br /><br /> But despite that diplomacy, Turkey’s military has refuted claims that it mistakenly told Russian jets to bomb the building where three of its soldiers were positioned. <br /><br /> That came after the Kremlin said the airstrikes had been launched based on coordinates provided by the Turkish army.<br />
