Ukrainian officials say at least 11 civilians have been killed and a
further 13 wounded in rebel shelling of a military checkpoint in the
country's east.
The Donetsk regional administration, answering to the
central government in Kiev, said in a statement that the rebels shelled
the checkpoint on Tuesday near the town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk
region while a passenger bus was passing through it.
The claim about the source of the fatal shelling could not be independently verified.
Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan, reporting from Kiev, said though police in
the area where the attack happened said 11 people were killed and some
13 injured.
"There is has been a spike in the unrest ... over the
past couple of days but what we're hearing from Donetsk ... is
certainly an escalation and a tragic one at that," said our
correspondent.
"A civilian bus travelling between Donetsk and Mariupol has been hit apparently by a stray munition.
"I
am not quite sure whether it is a shell or a rocket launched by a grad
rocket launcher, but it has certainly taken a direct hit.
"Photographs of the bus show the windows have been smashed in [and] there are large pools of blood by the entrance-exit door."
Donetsk regional interior ministry department chief Vyacheslav Abroskin
said the rocket appeared to have gone astray after being fired at a road
block set up near the town of Volnovakha.
"It was a direct hit on an intercity bus," Abroskin said.
"An investigation is in progress. The road between Donetsk and Mariupol
has been closed," he said in reference to a strategic port city
controlled by Ukrainian forces | . | | | | |
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