Security Council to hold urgent session on Syria: diplomats

The UN Security Council will meet Thursday for an emergency session on Syria following clashes between the Turkish and Syrian military, diplomats said Wednesday.

They said the meeting, which will be open to the public, was requested by the United States, France and Britain.

The UN envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, is expected to report on the situation in Idlib, the northwestern Syrian province where the two armies clashed on Monday, the diplomats said.

More than 20 people were killed in the exchanges of fire, threatening to further destabilize the Idlib region, already suffering a humanitarian crisis.

An offensive by the Damascus regime, backed by Russian air power, against the last stronghold of jihadist and rebel opponents has drawn strong warnings from Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"If the regime does not pull back, Turkey will be obliged to take matters into its own hands," Erdogan said in Ankara Wednesday.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a "cessation of hostilities" between Turkey and Syria, calling the fighting an "extremely worrying" escalation.