LTTE blasts another passenger bus: 7 killed, 26 injured

Seven passengers including a woman and an army soldier were killed when Tiger terrorists exploded a powerful bomb in a bus in Vavuniya yesterday, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said.

Two girls and six women among the 26 injured were rushed to the Vavuniya hospital. The LTTE targeted the civilian passenger bus plying between Mannar and Vavuniya killing five persons on the spot. Later, two passengers died in hospital, the MCNS said.

On Monday, the Tigers exploded another bomb in a bus at the Kondavattuwan checkpoint in Amapara killing 16 passengers mostly women and children. Over 25 civilians were injured.

Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said that the latest attack which comes five days after the attack at Ampara is now testimony that the LTTE is deliberately targeting civilians after their defeat in the Eastern Province. In another insident, 31 suspected LTTE informants living in IDPs and helping the LTTE operators in Kaluvankerni in Batticaloa were taken in for questioning by the Eravur police yesterday.

Meanwhile, the government urges the public to keep extra vigil on suspicious persons or activities and parcels especially at crowded places, inside buses, trains and shopping areas during the festive season as such places would be the targets of Tiger terrorists who will attempt to disrupt the festivities and the goodwill among the people. The government strongly condemned the cowardly terror attacks against civilian like the recent claymore attacks on passenger buses in Ampara and Vavuniya where the civilian death toll rose to 33 within a week.

The public can now contact the following emergency numbers or visit the nearest Police Station, Army, Navy or Air Force camp to report any suspicious person or activity: Police 119, Defence Ministry 118, Air Force 116 and Bomb Disposal Unit 2434251, MCNS said.