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Two Turkish journalists were hurt Saturday after assailants opened fire on their car in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Their wounds were not life-threatening.

The injured were among six Turkish journalists traveling in two separate cars to a Mosul hospital to interview patients.

Kemal Batur, a journalist with Sky Turk television, was shot in the hand, while Mesut Gengec, a cameraman for Show TV, was hit in the head by shrapnel. They were being treated in a hospital in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil.

There were conflicting reports about who was responsible. One journalist said the assailants were Iraqi militiamen loyal to Saddam Hussein, while another blamed people protecting the hospital from looting.

"They opened fire from all sides," Batur said from his hospital bed, in images broadcast in Turkey.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the government was trying to evacuate the journalists to Turkey for treatment.

photo credit and caption:

Turkish civil servants, holding a national flag, march in front of the U.S. embassy, at the left in the background, in Ankara on Saturday, April 12, 2003 to protest the war in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdish moves into Iraqi cities Kirkuk and Mosul. Turkey's top military and political leaders, alarmed by Iraqi Kurdish moves, met Friday to discuss possible Turkish reactions. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

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