International   

12 civilians die, 17 injured in Sri Lanka bus blast

— PHOTO: AP

A nurse carrying a child injured in the bus blast in Sri Lanka on Monday.

COLOMBO: At least 12 civilians died and 17 injured in a claymore explosion directed at a civilian bus at Ethwatunuwewa in Sri Lanka on Monday as the nation celebrated 60th anniversary of independence. The day was marked by three more explosions in different parts of the country, in one which a soldier was killed.

The government charged the LTTE with carrying out the “cowardly claymore blast” and termed it a desperate act to divert attention from the string of defeats they are experiencing in the north. There was no reaction from the LTTE. Pro-LTTE TamilNet said the deaths occurred “when a claymore attack targeted a bus carrying soldiers and civilians at Kobbekaduwa junction in Ma’nalaa’ru (Weli Oya) colonisation scheme.”

Hours before the bus blast, President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed to “liberate” the areas in the north under the control of Tigers and unveil a political solution to end the ethnic conflict. At an impressive military parade at the Galle Face, he said due to the sustained efforts of his government and the military the Tigers were now confined to one and half districts.

The Defence Ministry said, “Led by its psychopathic leader, V. Prabakaran, the outfit routinely carry out civilian massacres in pursuit of its Utopian state of Tamil Eelam. LTTE is infamous for attacking soft target such as infants, schoolchildren, pregnant women, elderly persons etc in its regular genocides . Yesterday, it massacred six students of a school base ball team when one of its brainwashed suicide bomber exploded herself at the Colombo railway station.”

Separately, the military claimed that 29 Tiger cadres were killed in the north.

In his address, Mr. Rajapaksa said, “Our security forces are today achieving victories against terrorism unprecedented in history. Terrorism is receiving an unprecedented defeat….In less than two years we have liberated the large Eastern Province that was under the clutches of the terrorists and confined them to two districts only. It will not be wrong to say they are confined to one-and-a-half districts. But friends, this cannot be a victory of the southern people alone.”

He said when this becomes a victory of the people in the south, it must be made it an even greater victory for people in the north. “When the people of the south are relieved by the defeat of terrorism, the people of the north have cause for even greater relief.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Clowns in the church
12 civilians die, 17 injured in Sri Lanka bus blast
Blast deepens uncertainty in Pakistan
Hillary’s lead dwindles ahead of Super Tuesday
Surgery restores vision to rare tiger cub
The burglar who overslept
Boris Tadic, an epitome of pro-Western image

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu