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18 injured in bomb blast in Colombo bus

COLOMBO: At least 18 civilians were injured as a parcel bomb planted by suspected by cadres of the LTTE exploded inside a public transport bus in Mount Lavinia, in the south of Colombo city on Saturday morning.

The explosion could have proved fatal but for the alarm raised by an alert passenger and the prompt action of the driver and conductor to evacuate the passengers from the bus.

The impact of the blast was so powerful that the bus was reduced to pieces and a motorbike parked nearby was destroyed.

According to the police, one of the passengers noticed a suspicious parcel and informed the driver and the conductor and they asked the passengers to vacate the bus.

The driver took the bus to a safe distance from the civilians and informed the police and a few minutes after the driver got down from the bus, the bomb went off.

Earlier this month, a navy petty officer saved a large number of people by defusing a similar parcel bomb placed by suspected LTTE cadres at the Anuradhapura weekly fair.

Separately, Sri Lankan Air force fighter jets pounded “a key LTTE military base 11 km north east of Oddusudan early on Saturday morning.

Pilots have confirmed that the LTTE military base has been accurately hit and the base is completely destroyed,” the Defence Ministry said.

In another development, Sri Lanka has urged the Working Group of the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict to take urgent punitive action against the LTTE for its continuous recruitment and use of child soldiers.

An official statement here said that addressing the Group in New York on Friday, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam called on the U.N. Security Council to freeze funds and other financial assets or economic resources of LTTE leaders and cadres as a primary measure.

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