Report: Five Syrians Killed, 10 Injured in U.S. Missile Strike Near Iraqi Border

DAMASCUS, Syria – The Syrian news agency said on Monday a U.S. missile hit a Syrian passenger bus near the Iraqi border, killing five and injuring 10.

The official news agency reported the missile hit the bus Sunday morning on the Iraqi side of the border. The bus was carrying Syrians fleeing the war in Iraq, the agency said.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces do not target civilians, and that their targeting is done very carefully, using precision-guided missiles, to select military targets.

The Syrian agency said the wounded were taken to a Syrian hospital on the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Syria, which strongly opposes the U.S.-led war on Iraq, has repeatedly called for a peaceful solution of the Iraq-U.S. dispute over Baghdad's weapons arsenal.