KUWAIT CITY, 16 December 2003 — At least five Asians were wounded yesterday when a company bus came under fire south of Kuwait City close to an area where US troops operate, Kuwait’s official news agency KUNA and a US spokesman said.
“Around five people were wounded, one possibly sustaining serious injuries,” when a bus carrying Asians came under fire from an unidentified assailant in the Shuaiba area, KUNA quoted a security source as saying.
The source said the bus belonged to the National Industries Company, and the car used by the assailant had been identified.
The shooting took place in the same area where one of two attacks on US military convoys occurred on Sunday, Kuwaiti security sources said.
Four US soldiers were slightly injured in Sunday’s shootings on their convoys, according to a US Army spokesman. The same black van was involved in the two attacks on the convoys, according to the Kuwaiti security sources.
Lt. Col. Vic Harris, spokesman for US troops in Kuwait, told AFP that five non-American workers were wounded yesterday when the bus in which they were traveling in Shuaiba, an area close to where the US military is operating, was fired on at 3:25 p.m.
US troops based in Kuwait maintain a heavy presence at Shuaiba port. It was not immediately clear if yesterday’s shooting was a criminal or politically-motivated incident.
Kuwait stepped up security after intercepting Friday three letter bombs sent to journalists and a small explosion at a newspaper the previous day.
Security measures had already been heightened in preparation for a Gulf Cooperation Council summit Kuwait is hosting on Dec. 21-22 and the Gulf Cup soccer tournament from Dec. 24 to Jan. 11.
Earlier yesterday, KUNA quoted a security source as saying that a blast heard in Kuwait City resulted from a plane breaking the sound barrier over the capital.
