Lebanese bus hit inside Syria border: NGO

A bus carrying pilgrims from Lebanon was caught up in a deadly clash between rebels and troops inside the Syrian border on Saturday, an NGO and a Lebanese television station reported.

The clash broke out in the town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border as army deserters attacked a military checkpoint, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.

He said activists charged that troops were preventing wounded people from being evacuated to Lebanon for treatment, prompting deserters to attack the checkpoint, killing several soldiers.

"A Lebanese bus was caught in the crossfire," he said.

Al Manar television of Lebanon's Hezbollah reported that one person was killed and three wounded when a rocket hit the bus carrying pilgrims headed for Iraq via Syria.

Habib Nasr Eddine told Al Manar by telephone that he had organised a pilgrimage to holy sites in Iraq and was with the pilgrims at the border town of Jusiyeh when the violence broke out.

"We were waiting for our passports to be stamped when we heard gunfire. A security officer told me the road had been cut... and that clashes were underway between terrorists and Syrian authorities," he told Al-Manar.

The rebel town of Qusayr is located in the central flashpoint province of Homs, scene of fierce and deadly fighting between deserters and troops.
 

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