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Colombo calls for obliterating Tamil rebels in wake of deadly bus bombing
The Sri Lankan government called yesterday for the destruction of the Tamil Tiger separatist group following a wave of deadly bomb attacks that killed dozens of civilians.
- AP
- Published: 00:10 December 7, 2007
Colombo: The Sri Lankan government called yesterday for the destruction of the Tamil Tiger separatist group following a wave of deadly bomb attacks that killed dozens of civilians.
In the latest attack, a roadside bomb tore through a crowded passenger bus as it travelled along a heavily guarded road near rebel-held territory in northern Sri Lanka on Wednesday night, killing 16 people and wounding 22 others, officials said.
The bombing, which the government blamed on the rebels, was carried out despite a major security crackdown following blasts at a government office and a department store last week that killed 20 people.
Government officials said the new round of attacks on civilians proved the rebels were growing increasingly frantic in the face of a military offensive on their power base in the jungles of northern Sri Lanka.
Weak and desperate
"That means they are weak and desperate," Media Minister Anura Yapa told reporters Thursday.
"We are trying our level best to destroy these terrorists in their own areas," he said. "We want to make sure that they are wiped out from the country," Yapa said.
Fighting has raged in recent weeks along the front lines separating the rebels' de facto state in parts of the north from government-held territory. In the latest fighting, government troops killed five rebels in two battles on Wednesday, the military announced yesterday. Since last Saturday, 158 rebels and 21 soldiers have been killed, according to military figures.
Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not be reached for comment, and independent confirmation of casualties was not available due to restricted access to the conflict zone.
The bus bombing on Wednesday occurred around 8 pm as the vehicle travelled north from the agricultural town of Kabithigollewa about 275 kilometres north of Colombo, said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara.
Evening buses in the area are often crowded with farmers returning from a town market. The road, which is bordered by dense bushes and other vegetation, is guarded by military bunkers placed every 400 metres.
The road was sealed off after the bombing and a military search for the attackers began almost immediately, witnesses said. When the road was reopened Thursday morning, a crowd of people began yelling at police, accusing them of failing to protect them.
Nearly 2,000 people gathered at the hospital Thursday in the nearby town of Anuradhapura to visit the injured and find out if their relatives were among the dead. When families were called in to identify bodies at the morgue, piercing wails echoed across the courtyard.
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