NATO monitoring Koreas with 'deep concern'

BRUSSELS: NATO condemned on Tuesday North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island, and the 28-nation Western military alliance said it was monitoring the situation with "deep concern."

"NATO strongly condemns the North Korean shelling of a South Korean island and its resulting casualties," NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero told AFP.

"The alliance will carefully monitor developments with deep concern."

North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells onto a South Korean island on Tuesday, killing two people, setting homes ablaze and triggering an exchange of fire as the South's military went on top alert.

In one of the most serious border incidents since the 1950-53 war, South Korean troops fired back with cannon, the government convened in an underground war room and "multiple" air force jets scrambled.