At least 16 persons, 15 civilians and a soldier of the Sri Lanka Army, were killed and 25 others injured as a blast ripped through a passenger bus on the outskirts of Amparai town in the east on Monday.
The blast occurred as the bus approached a security checkpoint. The normal procedure followed by personnel at such checkposts is to disembark all those on board the vehicle, frisk the passengers, and make sure that the vehicle is not a security risk.
A statement by the Defence Ministry said the explosion was the handiwork of Tamil Tigers and was triggered from inside the bus at 12.10 p.m.
The Government denounced the incident as "yet another treacherous act of the reckless terrorist outfit, with callous disregard to civilian lives". The LTTE, however, denied its involvement and accused the Government of indulging in a disinformation campaign.
Six civilians killed
The bus blast came hours after six civilians at a construction site in Batticaloa district in the east were gunned down by alleged Tigers on Sunday. The military said eight Sinhalese workers were forcibly taken from the site by LTTE cadres and shot dead at close range. Six of them died on the spot while two who suffered severe gunshot injuries were rushed to the hospital.
Separately, the LTTE's military spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan accused the Government of carrying out a "planned disinformation campaign," by blaming the Tigers for attacks on civilian targets while encouraging paramilitary elements to carry out such attacks with the "motive of tarnishing the Tiger image."
"We note with concern the recent attacks on civilians in areas near the Sri Lankan military camps," Mr. Ilanthirayan told mediapersons at Kilinochchi according to the TamilNet.