For Syrian evacuees, bus bombing a tragic end to a tragic deal

BEIRUT, Apr 17: Mothers Noha, a Shi’ite, and Samira, a Sunni, were besieged for nearly two years on each side of Syria’s civil war.
At the weekend they finally escaped the suffocating blockades under an evacuation agreement – but their ordeal was not over.
As they waited at two transit points miles apart outside Aleppo, a bomb attack hit Noha’s bus convoy, killing more than 120 people including dozens of children.
After ambulances rushed off the wounded, new buses arrived and the two convoys eventually reached their destinations – one in government territory and the other in rebel territory.
In the hours leading up to Saturday’s attacks, the two women spoke to Reuters about what they had left behind, their families being split up, and the likelihood they would never return home.
(Reuters)