IN THE SECOND BUS BOMB IN A WEEK THE LTTE KILLS SEVEN CIVILIANS AND ONE SOLDIER ON LEAVE AND INJURES 26 OTHER PASSENGERS

By Walter Jayawardhana

Seven civilians and a soldier traveling on holiday in a civilian bus were killed when terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam targeted the vehicle by a way side claymore bomb the military said.
“A LTTE claymore targeting a civilian bus exploded and killed eight and injured 26," said Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe, the military spokesman

This bus bombing that happened on April 7 is the second one exploded by the LTTE in a week targeting public transport after it exploded another bus bomb on Monday killing 17 people in the Eastern Province. Like in the case of the previous one LTTE military spokesman Rasiah Ilantheriyan (Marshal) said, this bus bomb that even victimized an army soldier is the work of the Sri Lanka Army.

The LTTE is involved in civilian killings at this time while suspected LTTE related “human rights organizations” are carrying on an orchestrated anti-Sri Lanka campaign at various platforms including the World Cricket Cup tournament in West Indies. The two bus bombings came after six Tsunami construction workers and four farmers were killed by LTTE terrorists in the Eastern Province.

The latest roadside explosion targeting the Sri Lanka Transport Board bus took place on Vavuniya -Mannar road at 7.30 a.m. Five passengers died on the spot while three died after admission to the Vavuniya General Hospital. The Sri Lanka Army said immediately after they heard the bombing army ambulances were rushed to the spot to evacuate the dead and the injured.

Blaming the LTTE the Sri Lanka Army sources said, hours before the blast, troops on search and clear operations in Vavuniya on Friday night found one land mine weighing some 15 kg (33 lb.), one claymore mine of about 4.5 kg (10 lb.), a pistol and 39 anti-personnel mines.