Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a roadside blast, killing seven bus passengers and wounding 26 in Sri Lanka yesterday, the government said, marking the latest violence on the island. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) detonated the blast outside the town of Vavuniya, 250 kilometres north of Colombo, the defence ministry said, adding a soldier was among the bus passengers killed. "A Claymore mine hit the bus as it was halfway through to the destination," an area military official said. "The bomb was rigged up on a tree and manually triggered as the bus passed. It was the work of the Tigers."However, the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website said the Tigers denied the charge and blamed military intelligence. "The Sri Lankan military intelligence establishment has devised bomb attacks and wanton killings during the last two weeks with a sinister motive of tarnishing the image of the Tigers," LTTE spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan was quoted as saying.
Five people were dead on arrival at Vavuniya hospital, where two passengers died from their injuries, a hospital official said, adding seven soldiers were among those wounded. Tamilnet said the blast killed at least seven civilians and injured 27 others, including four children. The attack came five days after a bomb exploded inside a bus in the east of the island, killing 17 people and wounding 25.
Immediately after yesterday's blast, the government asked people to be cautious of "suspicious persons or activities" ahead of the traditional New Year next week. "The government is requesting the general public to be cautious of suspicious persons or activities, especially at crowded places, inside buses and trains during the upcoming festive season," the government said in a statement. Security has also been intensified across the island's northern and eastern regions in a bid to prevent Tiger attacks, the government said.
Yesterday's blast came a day after Sri Lanka's navy and Tiger rebels fought a sea battle off the island's northwestern coast with the warring parties each claiming losses for the other side.