By IANS,
Colombo : Scores of civilians were killed and several more wounded Monday when an LTTE suicide bomber mingling with the civilians fleeing the rebel-held war zone blew herself up Monday in the northeastern Mullaitivu district, a military official said here.
Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said that a group of women soldiers were screening “the influx of female civilians when a LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) female suicide cadre exploded herself at Vishwamadhu Susanthirapuram area” in Mullaitivu Monday morning.
“According to initial reports, a large number of civilians were feared killed and scores wounded in the blast. There were women soldiers among the victims, but we do not have the exact casualty details immediately,” Nanayakkara told IANS.
He said that the wounded civilians have been rushed to the medical centres of the army in the area before being transferred to the Vavuniya and Anuradhapura hospitals.
“This is yet another desperate attempt by the LTTE to prevent thousands of displaced civilians from fleeing the areas controlled by them and enter the government-held areas,” he said.
The suicide explosion has come at a time when the pro-LTTE websites have alleged that scores of civilians were killed in the fast shrinking LTTE-held areas due to shelling during the past few days.
Denying these allegations, the military said that the Tamil Tigers were now holed up in less than 200 square km in Mullaitivu district and were holding thousands of civilians as human shields.