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Sri Lanka bus attack kills 28
16/01/2008 14:14 - (SA)
Colombo - A bomb and shooting attack blamed on Tamil separatists ripped through a packed civilian bus on Wednesday, killing 28 people in south-eastern Sri Lanka as the government officially withdrew from a tattered cease-fire with the rebels.
Military spokesperson Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said it was clear the rebels - accused of killing two more people as they retreated into the bush - were behind the assault, the latest in a string of recent attacks in government-held territory. "There are no other groups operating in the area," he said.
Spokespeople for the rebels could not immediately be reached for comment. But the group, listed as a terror organisation by the US and European Union, routinely denies responsibility for such attacks.
If the Tamil Tigers are responsible, it highlights their increasing determination to hit targets in the generally peaceful south as the military presses ahead with an offensive against rebel-held territory in the north.
A bomb planted near the road that the bus was travelling on exploded. Gunmen then shot the panicked passengers as they tried to flee, witnesses said. The attack occurred in the remote town of Buttala, about 240km southeast of Colombo.
"Everyone that got out through the doors, they shot and killed," said a 25-year-old passenger who gave his name as Sampath. "I jumped from the window and just escaped."
The attack killed 26 people and injured 64 others, Nanayakkara said. The assailants killed at least two more people and wounded two others as they retreated through farms, the military said. Local officials said many more were wounded.
Soon after the attack, a second roadside bomb struck an armored military vehicle in the same region, lightly injuring three soldiers, Nanayakkara said. In response to the attacks, local authorities announced the closure of all schools in the province for three days. Hours later, government forces in the eastern city of Trincomalee killed a local rebel leader, the military said.
Final day of ceasefire agreement
The bombings came on the final day of the 2002 ceasefire agreement, which had largely broken down over the past two years amid renewed fighting.
Though scrapping the truce has little direct impact on the raging war, the Cabinet's unanimous decision to end the deal was criticised by peace mediators and foreign governments, who worried it would make it even more difficult to end the decades-old conflict.
- AP
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