The Hindu : Front Page : Blasts kill 17 in Colombo

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Thursday, Nov 29, 2007
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Blasts kill 17 in Colombo

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Sixteen people were killed on Wednesday in a parcel bomb explosion triggered by suspected LTTE cadres in an apparel shop at a crowded junction just outside the Colombo municipal limits. In another incident, there was an attempt by a physically-challenged woman suicide bomber on the life of Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda inside his office. One person was killed.

The two incidents, which came a day after LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran accused the whole world of colluding with the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in suppressing the ‘Tamil nationalist movement,’ shook the city. The government denounced the incidents as “cowardly acts” by the Tigers on innocent citizens, and asserted that it would not be deterred by such acts in its pursuit against terrorism.

“The explosion which killed at least 16 people and injured 37 others occurred when the staff at the security counter of a well known apparel shop was examining a parcel left behind by an unidentified person. The building of the shop located at a crowded junction in Nugeoda and a public bus outside took maximum impact of the incident. We have little doubt that this is a dastardly cowardly act by the LTTE targeting the innocent civilians,” V.U.B. Nanayakkara, Spokesperson the Media Centre for National Security told The Hindu.

In the first incident, the woman blew herself inside the office of Social Services and Social Welfare Ministry, on the Isipathana road, Narahenpita, in the heart of Colombo at 8.05 a.m., killing a Public Relations Officer of the Minister, who is also the chief of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party. “Mr. Devananda has designated Wednesdays’ as ‘public day’ to receive petitions from people from all walks of life. The woman had come to meet the Minister, who was present at the time of the incident, in the guise of a petitioner,” an official said.

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