By DPA
Colombo : At least six people were killed and over 30 injured in a powerful claymore bomb explosion in the outskirts of Sri Lanka's capital, a military spokesman said Monday.
The mine set on a building was triggered as a bus carrying members of the elite Special Task Force (STF) was passing by at Ratmalana, 10 km south of Colombo, he said.
Four men and two women were killed, while most of the injured were people returning home after work. The spokesman blamed rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eleam (LTTE) for the blast.
Initially police believed that the mine had been set on a motorcycle similar to last week's blast here when an army bus was targeted. At least one person was killed and 10 injured then.
Witnesses said although the STF bus was the target of Monday's attack, the vehicle had not caught the full impact of the blast and instead at least five civilians' vehicles and bystanders were caught.
The Colombo attacks come as government troops step up offensive operations against the LTTE rebels in northern and eastern parts of the country.