Bus carrying Turks attacked in Syria, two wounded: reports

Bus carrying Turks attacked in Syria, two wounded: reports
 Two people were wounded when a bus carrying a group of Turks came under attack in the restive Homs province in Syria, Turkish media reported Monday.

The attack occurred near the city of Homs, the provincial capital of Homs province, a flash point in Syria's months-long unrest, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News reported, quoting officials of the Turkish foreign ministry.

Turkish NTV said that two people were injured when their bus, one of a three-bus convoy carrying Turkish pilgrims back to Turkey from Saudi Arabia, was attacked at a checkpoint near the Syrian- Turkish border.

Passengers on the bus said they had been told to disembark at a checkpoint by up to eight uniformed Syrian soldiers. One passenger said the soldiers started firing randomly at the pilgrims as they ran away after getting off the bus, according to Hurriyet report.

Turkey's IHA news agency said the driver of the bus was injured in the attack, but the bus managed to reach the Turkish border.

Turkish private news agency Dogan showed images of a passenger bus with one of its side windows broken at the Cizre border crossing inside Turkey.

The driver of one of the buses, Erhan Surmeli, said the bus was carrying 25 butchers back from Saudi Arabia after the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, according to media reports.

Surmeli said he heard that the other two buses also came under attack and another passenger was injured, but they also crossed into Turkey.

The wounded were being treated in a hospital in Antakya in Turkey's Hatay province just across the Turkish border, NTV reported.

The attack is likely to further deteriorate Turkey's relations with the Syrian administration, the NTV said.

Syrian pro-government demonstrators attacked the Turkish diplomatic missions in the Syrian capital of Damascus and two other cities on Nov. 13 after the Arab League voted to suspend Syria's participation in its meetings and impose sanctions on the Syrian government for its alleged crackdown on protesters.

Turkish foreign ministry evacuated the families of its diplomats and sent a diplomatic note to Syria one day after the attacks. It has also advised Turkish citizens to avoid travelling to the unrest-hit country.

Turkey last week suspended joint oil exploration plans in six wells in Syria.

Editor: Bi Mingxin

English.news.cn   2011-11-21 18:01:33 FeedbackPrintRSS
ANKARA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua)