(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/121003-turkey-syria-740a.photoblog600.jpg)Rauf Maltas / ANA via AFP - Getty ImagesSmoke rises after mortar fire from Syria hit a town in Turkey.By NBC News staff and wire reportsUpdated 3:22 p.m. ET -- Turkey's military struck targets inside Syria on Wednesday in response to a mortar bomb fired from Syrian territory that killed five Turkish civilians, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office said in a statement.
"Our armed forces at the border region responded to this atrocious attack with artillery fire on points in Syria that were detected with radar, in line with the rules of engagement," the Turkish statement said.
"Turkey, acting within the rules of engagement and international laws, will never leave unreciprocated such provocations by the Syrian regime against our national security," it said.
Turkey's NTV television said Turkish radar pinpointed the positions from where the shells were fired on the southeastern Turkish town of Akcakale, and that those positions were hit.
NBCNews