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20 killed in Colombo blasts

COLOMBO: Eighteen people were killed in a parcel bomb explosion triggered by suspected LTTE cadres in an apparel shop at a crowded junction just outside the Colombo municipal limits on Wednesday. In an earlier incident, there was an attempt by a physically-challenged woman suicide bomber on the life of Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda inside his office. She blew herself up and another person was also killed.

The two incidents, which came a day after LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran accused the whole world of colluding with the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in suppressing the ‘Tamil nationalist movement,’ shook the city. The government denounced the incidents as “cowardly acts” by the Tigers against innocent citizens, and asserted that it would not be deterred by such acts in its fight against terrorism.

“The explosion occurred when the staff at the security counter of an apparel shop was examining a parcel left behind by an unidentified person. The building of the shop located at a crowded junction in Nugeoda and a public bus outside took maximum impact of the blast. We have little doubt that this is a dastardly cowardly act by the LTTE of targeting the innocent civilians,” V.U.B. Nanayakkara, spokesperson of the Media Centre for National Security told The Hindu.

In the first incident, the woman blew herself up inside the office of the Social Services and Social Welfare Ministry on the Isipathana road, Narahenpita, in the heart of Colombo at 8.05 a.m., killing a Public Relations Officer of the Minister, who is also the chief of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party.

“Mr. Devananda has designated Wednesdays as ‘public day’ to receive petitions from people. The woman had come to meet the Minister. She blew herself up when the PRO and two security personnel questioned the woman,” an official said.

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