Bus blast kills 15 civilians, injures 23 in Kebithigollewa
Chaminda Perera
Fifteen civilians were killed and 23 injured as their bus was caught
up in a claymore explosion in Abhimanapura, Kebithigollewa, last night.
Police blamed the LTTE for the attack which came exactly one week
after a bomb exploded near the No Limit store in Nugegoda, killing 20
people.
The explosion occurred around 8.45 p.m. as the crowded SLTB bus from
Janakapura was nearing Kebithigollewa, its destination.
Security Forces and Police personnel rushed to the scene immediately
and the injured were admitted to the Kebithigollewa Base Hospital and
the Anuradhapura General Hospital.
A search operation commenced immediately afterwards. This is the
second such attack on a civilian bus in the Kebithigollewa area.
Sixty four civilians including 12 children were killed when a
claymore mine targeting a bus was detonated by the LTTE on June 15 last
year.
This prompted the Government and the Security Forces to strengthen
civilians’ security in the area and deploy more troops and Civil
Security personnel.
Army spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the LTTE has resorted
to targeting civilians as they were unable to face the stiff pressure
mounted by the Security Forces on the war front.
Meanwhile, 24 LTTE cadres were killed in a confrontation with the
Army west of Adampan and Parappankandy in the Mannar district and
Mullikulam in the Vavuniya district, a spokesman from the Media Centre
for National Security said.
The Sri Lanka Navy on a tip off yesterday recovered a cache of arms
including 150 rounds of live ammunition, two 56 rifles, five magazines
and a collar bearing 02268 to identify LTTEers at Suruvil in the Jaffna
district.
The Navy believes that the fleeing terrorists had left them with the
launch of a search operation by the Navy, the Media Centre for National
Security said.
Three soldiers were killed at Sinnasettikulam in Vavuniya when a
group of soldiers patrolling on the Mannar-Settikulam road was subjected
to a terrorist attack yesterday. |
