Sri Lankan volunteers help a woman who survived a bomb blast inside a crowded bus on Feb. 2, 2008 in the north-central town of Dambulla. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)COLOMBO, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 civilians were killed and over 50 others injured in a powerful bomb explosion that hit a private bus in Sri Lanka's Central Province early Saturday morning, and the military said Tamil Tiger rebels were behind the blast.
Military Spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the bus was plying from Kandy to Anuradhapura when it was caught in the explosion at Dambulla, about 150 km northeast of Colombo around 7 a.m. (0130 GMT).
"The majority of those passengers in the ill-fated bus were traveling to the city of Anuradhapura to attend a religious function," said Nanayakkara.
"Unable to face military pressure in the north, the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is targeting civilians in other areas," the spokesman added.
He said the LTTE is intensifying its terrorist activities as Sri Lanka prepares to celebrate its 60th Independence Day next Monday.
Nanayakkara said the police and the army have evacuated the injured to local hospitals for treatment.
This was the third bus targeted after a six-year truce between the government and the LTTE was scrapped on Jan. 16.
Intensive military conflicts are underway in the north, with the government determining to defeat the LTTE before the end of this year.
The military said more than 600 people have been killed in the escalating conflict since the Norwegian-brokered truce formally ended.
The LTTE has been fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east for more than two decades, resulting in the death of more than 70,000 people.
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