Turkey renews Syria attack

Turkish artillery has renewed firing at targets in Syria after shells from across the border on Wednesday killed five Turkish nationals, BBC News reported.

Several Syrian troops were killed by Turkish fire, activists from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Turkey's border town of Akcakale was shelled, apparently by Syrian government forces, on Wednesday, killing a woman and three children.

The UN Security Council is due to meet later to condemn Syria's actions.

Ankara's response marks the first time it has fired into Syria during the 18-month-long unrest there.

Turkey also asked the UN Security Council to take "necessary action" to stop Syrian "aggression".

Meanwhile, NATO envoys held an urgent meeting in Brussels at the request of Turkey, who is a member of the military alliance.
The bloc issued a statement saying it "continues to stand by Turkey and demands the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally, and urges the Syrian regime to put an end to flagrant violations of international law".

The government in Ankara is expected to ask parliament shortly to authorise cross-border military operations in Syria, according to the Turkish media.

The Turkish armed forces have in the past moved into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish militants who had bases there.