24 dead as Sri Lanka truce ends
Wednesday, 16 Jan 2008 10:44
24 killed in Tamil Tiger bomb blast as truce with Sri Lankan government ends
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Now almost 25 years old, the civil war in Sri Lanka has intensified in recent weeks following the government's official withdrawal from a 2001 ceasefire. Full Story
At least 24 people have died in an alleged Tamil Tiger bomb attack as a ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and rebels officially ended.
According to the authorities, a bus full of schoolchildren was blown up in Buttala, 240km north of the capital Colombo, wounding scores.
The attack has been blamed on the Tamil Tigers, which frequently uses Claymore-type mines full of explosives and ball bearings.
"Police sources said that the terrorists have exploded a Claymore mine targeting the bus and subsequently opened fire at the survivors," a defence ministry statement said.
At the start of 2008 the government said it was withdrawing from a six-year-old truce with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been campaigning for an independent homeland.
During the last fortnight more than 300 people are thought to have died in fighting, adding to the 5,000 killed since the ceasefire was signed and the 70,000 who have died since the Tamil Tigers began their violent struggle in the 1980s.
Norwegian monitors who mediated the 2002 truce are due to leave the south
Asian island later today.
The United Nations has urged Colombo to return to the negotiating table, while Japan, Sri Lanka's largest foreign donor, has warned it may withdraw aid.