Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a powerful landmine in northern Sri Lanka on Thursday that killed at least 64 bus passengers and wounded another 45, a government minister said.
The casualties were high as the bus was overcrowded with villagers travelling to the main town of Kebitigollewa to buy provisions, said Keheliya Rambukwella, the government’s spokesperson for defence related isues.
”This is the most barbaric terrorist act of the Tigers,” he said, accusing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of carrying out the attack.
Rambukwella said among the dead were two Buddhist monks and ”a lot of children” had been wounded.
Military spokesperson Prasad Samarasinghe said it was the worst attack against civilians since a February 2002 truce went into effect.
”We have no doubt that the attack is the work of the LTTE,” he said. ”No one else would do a thing like this.”
He said the bus was hit by a Claymore mine, or a side charger, which overturned the vehicle and sent it crashing down the road for about 25m. Women and children were among the victims, he said.
The attack took place in the district of Anuradhapura, 200km north of Colombo.
There have been a spate of bomb attacks against security forces as well as civilians blamed on Tamil Tiger guerrillas who are waging a drawn out campaign for independence.
Despite the truce, there had been a surge in violence which official figures show has killed at least 720 people since December.
The latest attack comes a day after the Tamil Tigers said they had clashed with Sri Lankan soldiers who were allegedly laying mines deep within rebel-held territory further north in the island.
It follows the return to the island on Wednesday of leaders of the LTTE after abortive talks in Oslo with Sri Lankan government officials.
The rebels refused to sit at the table with a Sri Lankan delegation for what had been billed as two days of talks to discuss ways of ensuring the safety of Scandinavians monitoring the troubled truce between the two sides.
The government and the Tigers have accused each other of breaking the ceasefire and stepping up attacks.
More than 60 000 people have been killed in the island’s Tamil separatist conflict since 1972. – AFP
