By DPA
Colombo : At least 11 school children were among 17 civilians killed and 17 wounded when an army unit triggered off a claymore mine explosion on a bus in a rebel controlled area in northwest Sri Lanka, a pro-rebel website said Tuesday.
The Tamilnet website said the bus carrying school children and clergy was returning from a sports event in Madu, 280 km north of the capital, Tuesday afternoon. They were reported to be from the Sinnapandivirichchan school.
Military spokesman Brigiadier Udaya Nanayakkara denied the involvement of the army’s so-called “deep penetration unit.”
Incidents of attacks by the unit on Tamil rebels have been reported in rebel-controlled areas.
Earlier the army said at least 43 Tamil rebels and a soldier were killed in clashes in the north of the country since Monday, military officials said Tuesday.
Government troops are continuing their operations mainly in Mannar area in the northwest while other smaller operations are being conducted in the north.
The military during this month has claimed to have killed over 800 rebels and lost 30 soldiers, but there is no independent confirmation of the figures.
Elsewhere two civilian employees were killed inside a wildlife park in Central Sri Lanka Tuesday, prompting a search operation by the army and the police.
The two men were found shot dead in the park at Wasgamuwa, 160 km northeast of the capital. The park is visited by tourists, mainly to see elephants. There was only one tourist Tuesday, a spokesman for the park said.
Early this month rebels carried out a series of attacks on civilians, killing 43 of them in villages surrounding two southern wildlife parks, prompting tourists to cancel their scheduled visits to the particular areas.