HOMS, Syria, Oct 1 (Zark News) — At least seven people were killed and four wounded when gunmen opened fire on a passenger bus on Misyaf Bridge in Syria’s Homs province, a source in the Homs health directorate told the state news agency SANA, according to Reuters.
The attack took place Wednesday, and the casualties were taken to hospitals, Reuters reported. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the victims belonged to the Alawite minority, which has been targeted in sectarian attacks in the country, though the perpetrators had not been identified, the monitoring group said.
Sky News Arabia reported that the bus was carrying personnel of an electric company in Homs governorate, and put the death toll at five with four injured — a lower figure than the seven reported by SANA, reflecting the conflicting early accounts that often follow such attacks.
The attack comes as Syria’s central regions continue to suffer sporadic violence. Homs, home to sizable Christian and Alawite minorities, has seen repeated sectarian attacks in recent years, and Islamic State sleeper cells have remained active in eastern and central Syria despite the group’s battlefield defeat in 2019.
No group had claimed responsibility for the attack as of early Thursday, according to the reports.
Sources: Reuters (via SANA), Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Sky News Arabia
