Sri Lanka yesterday warned of more indiscriminate attacks against civilians as troops launched a new offensive against Tamil separatists a day after a bus bombing killed 26 people.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said Friday’s bus bomb attack was the work of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas who are fighting a major military campaign in the island’s north.
The president in a statement warned that the rebels could resort to further bombings and told residents to be more wary.
PHOTO: AFP
The Tigers made no comment on the bus bombing, but yesterday said the military had mounted a fresh assault against rebel positions in the northeastern Weli Oya region.
The Tigers said they were resisting a “large-scale” offensive by troops while military sources said soldiers were making a fresh advance into rebel-held territory, but there were no immediate details of casualties.
On Friday, a powerful time-bomb ripped through an overcrowded bus, blowing off its roof, as it pulled out of a terminal into rush-hour traffic on the outskirts of Colombo.
“Two more passengers died in hospital and the number of people remaining in hospital this morning is 64,” a police spokesman said, adding the death toll had risen to 26.
Grief-stricken relatives thronged two hospitals to claim the dead from the explosion on the bus, which was jammed with office workers and schoolchildren returning from private classes.
Among those killed were a 10-year-old boy, a Buddhist monk and eight women.
“The president deplored the LTTE bomb attack on a packed bus in Piliyandala, saying terrorists had once again resorted to killing innocent civilians in the face of heavy setbacks in the battlefield,” Rajapakse’s office said.
The bombing was the “latest in a series of indiscriminate attacks aimed at civilians,” Rajapakse said in the statement, appealing to the public to be more
vigilant and to help troops foil the “destructive plans” of the rebels.
The defense ministry yesterday reported that 19 more guerrillas were killed by security forces in three separate clashes in the north on Friday.
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