UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his mounting concern on Monday after a convoy of unarmed UN observers came under attack in Syria

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his mounting concern on Monday after a convoy of unarmed UN observers came under attack in Syria.

The five-vehicle convoy which was carrying UN mission chief General Babacar Gaye came under small arms fire near the protest city of Homs, a UN peacekeeping spokesperson said.

"Fortunately there were no injuries," Ban told reporters as he announced the attack on Sunday.

The convoy was at the village of Talbisa, traveling from the protest city of Homs when one vehicle was hit by three bullets and another by one bullet, a UN peacekeeping spokesperson, Josephine Guerrero, told AFP.

"It was a convoy of five vehicles, which was carrying General Gaye, which came under small arms fire," she said. UN officials said it was not known who had fired the shots.

Gaye told a press conference in Damascus that he had been on his first field visit since his arrival one week ago to take charge of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS).

He did not mention the shooting incident but told reporters: "During my visit to Homs, I was personally able to witness heavy shelling, from artillery and mortars, ongoing in the neighborhoods of the city."