COLOMBO, Sri Lanka Jun 15, 2006 (AP)— A powerful land mine ripped through a bus packed with commuters and schoolchildren in northern Sri Lanka on Thursday, killing at least 62 people, the army said. Sri Lanka’s air force responded by bombing rebel-held areas in the northeast.The army blamed the Tamil Tiger rebels for the bus explosion, but the rebels denied responsibility.The explosion described as “huge” by military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe was the worst single act of violence since the government and Tamil Tiger rebels signed a cease-fire in 2002, and renewed fears of a return to war.The pro-rebel TamilNet Web site said two jets bombed areas in the north of the country after the explosion, but it provided no other details. Samarasinghe confirmed the bombings, saying the air force was taking deterrent action, but it will be limited.A doctor at the hospital where the bodies from the explosion were taken, S.B. Bothota, said 15 schoolchildren were among the 62 killed. Another 78 people were wounded by the blast, which also hit bystanders in a crowded part of Kabithigollewa, a town in the northern Anuradhapura district.
“Pro-rebel”, huh, they are TERRORISTS. In fact, the fathers of modern suicide bombers…
technorati tags:Tamil+Tigers, terrorism, Sri+Lanka, terrorist+attacks
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