Colombo bomb blast wounds nearly 50: official
Posted
Suspected Tamil Tiger guerrillas detonated a bomb in Colombo's commercial hub on Saturday wounding nearly 50 people, officials said, as government forces kept up a major drive against the rebels.
The bomb was concealed under a red satin-covered roadside stall displaying fake designer watches in the busy Pettah area of the capital, a short distance from the main bus station and the railway terminal.
"We received 48 people injured in the blast," said Anil Jasinghe, a director of the Colombo National Hospital.
"There are seven women and two children among the wounded," Mr Jasinghe said, describing most of the injuries as "light to moderate." Most were leg wounds.
"There were fewer people today because of the rains from the morning," a shopkeeper said. "We heard the sound of a blast, but we thought it was a firecracker. It didn't sound like a huge bomb."
The explosion was minor compared to a bomb explosion also blamed on the rebels that occurred in April 1987 in the same area, killing 111 people and wounding over 750 wounded.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but President Mahinda Rajapakse's office said the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas were believed to have carried out the bombing.
The defence ministry said security was further stepped up in the area following the blast.
The Tigers have also been blamed for a string of bomb attacks against public transport and other blasts in recent months as the military intensified pressure on the rebels' defacto mini-state in the north.
The attack came as the defence ministry said another 18 guerrillas and a government soldier were killed in fresh fighting on Friday.
