Bus attack revives security fears

Bus attack revives security fears

LAOS: The bloody weekend ambush of a bus in Laos has revived security fears in Vietnam's tiny western neighbor and left diplomats in the Laotian capital Vientiane puzzling over the identify of the assailants.

There has been no claim of responsibility for Sunday's attack which left at least 12 people dead and another 31 wounded, according to a toll published by the state-owned English-language Vientiane Times on Tuesday.

There has also been no official account of the attack from the authorities, although the newspaper attributed the massacre to unidentified "bandits".

According to the Vientiane Times, the bus was carrying 69 passengers, mostly students from the National University in Vientiane, when it was attacked by a group of gunmen at dawn on Sunday.

The attack occurred shortly after the bus stopped near the village of Phoukhoun on Route 13, which links Vientiane with the former royal capital Luang Prabang.

"Bandits opened fire on the bus killing and wounding passengers then boarded it to rob them," the Vientiane Times said. "They then torched the bus before fleeing into the forest." -- AFP