Bomb Explodes on Bus in Sri Lanka, 18 Wounded

The series of violent event continue to be the highlight of Sri Lanka. The latest was another bomb explosion blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels, who allegedly put the bomb in a bus which exploded and wounded 18 civilians.

The blast took place in the suburb of Mount Lavinia in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, the BBC reported Saturday.

The media reports said the bomb went off after an old woman who was on that bus spotted a suspicious package. The passengers began evacuating the bus and that is when the explosion occurred, the BBC said.

A witness who spoke to Reuters said he saw the wreckage of the bus and its rear was completely blown apart. However, if it wasn’t for the old woman, many people on that bus would have died in the explosion.

Since the Sri Lankan government pulled out the ceasefire agreement last month, numerous accidents very similar to this one took place in the troubled island located south of India.

The Tamil Tigers did not made any comment about the explosion, but the usually deny the involvement in attacks increasingly focused on civilians. The attack came just a day after the Tiger accused the troops that fight for the Sri Lankan government of killing eight civilians, including three young children, in an air raid on their northern stronghold.

The conflict between the Sri Lanka's pro-government forces and the LTTE has started 24 years ago and over this period there were more than 70,000 people killed in the clashes. Two attempts of reaching peace were made, but after the last of them made during the peace-talks held in Geneva a year ago, the fighting has intensified.

The LTTE has an estimated 12,000-member land force and a 4,000-strong naval unit.

Source: efluxmedia.com