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Bomb targeting passenger train explodes in Sri Lankan capital, wounding 17
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – A bomb exploded on a railroad in Sri Lanka’s capital Wednesday, wounding 17 people, but it missed a passenger train that had just passed the spot, authorities said.
Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said the explosion happened in the Wellawatte district of Colombo and he blamed the Tamil Tiger rebels for the blast.
Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not be immediately contacted for comment.
Seventeen wounded people have been admitted to Kalubowila Teaching Hospital, said Dr. Wilfred Kumarasinghe.
Several bomb blasts have targeted civilians since the beginning of this year, with dozens of people killed.
The government has blamed the insurgents for attacks in Colombo and other predominantly ethnic Sinhalese-majority areas, and the rebels have accused the military of killing Tamil civilians within their territory.
Tamil Tiger rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent homeland for the country’s ethnic minority Tamils who have suffered marginalization by successive governments controlled by majority ethnic Sinhalese.
