Turkey on Wednesday, October 3, 2012, attacked targets in Syria in response to the mortar shelling in southeastern Turkey from the Syrian side, a statement released by Turkish prime ministry said.

"Our armed forces on border region have given the required response in line with the rule of engagements. Targets in Syria, which were detected by radar, were shot by shelling," the written statement said.

Sanliurfa Governor Celalettin Guvenc said that three or four Syrian artillery shells landed in Akcakale town in Sanliurfa province bordering Syria, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

One of the artillery shells hit a house at around 16:30 local time (1330 GMT), killing a mother and her four children inside. " At the incident, 10 people were wounded, including police officers. Two of those wounded are in serious condition," Guvenc said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has contacted NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UN-Arab League joint special envoy on Syria Lakhdar Brahim, according to the statement.

NATO's National Atlantic Council, which is composed of the alliance's ambassadors, held an emergency meeting in Brussels Wednesday night at Turkey's request to discuss the cross-border incident.

The meeting ended with a statement strongly condemning the attack and saying: "The alliance continues to stand by Turkey and demands the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally." It also urged the Syrian regime to "put an end to flagrant violations of international law."

"Turkey will never remain unresponsive against these sorts of provocations of Syrian regime within the framework of rules of engagement and international law," the statement added.