Turkey hits back at Syria after deadly shelling

AKCAKALE: Turkey shelled Syria in retaliation for cross-border fire that killed five of its nationals, in a sharp escalation of tensions between the neighbours.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's cabinet, furious about the attack, was set to seek clearance for possible future cross-border military operations at a special parliament session Thursday morning.

Turkish shelling meanwhile continued after nightfall, media reports said.

NATO and major Western powers condemned Damascus for hitting a Turkish border town, the first attack to kill Turkish citizens, which claimed the lives of a woman and three children. The Pentagon denounced the attack as "depraved".

Erdogan said after the shells hit Akcakale town on Wednesday afternoon that "our armed forces in the border region immediately retaliated against this heinous attack... by shelling targets spotted by radar.

"Turkey will never leave unanswered such provocations by the Syrian regime targeting our national security, in line with engagement rules and international law," his office said in a statement.

NATO, in an emergency evening meeting at Brussels headquarters, condemned the attack against member-state Turkey and called on Syria to respect international law.

The incident was the most serious between the neighbours since June, when Syria shot down a Turkish fighter plane with the loss of its two-man crew and Ankara took the matter to NATO.

Private station NTV reported that on Thursday the government would seek approval from parliament for cross-border military operation in Syria "when deemed necessary".

Any such new mandate would be valid for one year, reports said.

Under the constitution, any such operation now requires the authorisation of parliament.

NATO said that it stood by Turkey and "urges the Syrian regime to end flagrant violations of international law."