Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel on Wednesday, Oct 10, vowed to give a harsher response to if shelling from neighboring Syria continues to spill over the border after last week's deadly incident which left five Turks dead in a border town, Today’s Zaman reports.

Özel, who has been inspection border troops for a couple of days, was in the border town of Akçakale where a Syrian mortar killed five civilians last week.

Özel said the Turkish military has instantly launched retaliatory strikes in response to Syrian mortars that hit Turkey since last Wednesday. "We responded but if it continues we will respond with greater force," Özel said. He added that the Syrian military suffered serious damage from Turkish strikes.