By Xinhua,
Colombo : At least 17 civilians were injured when suspected Tamil Tiger rebels exploded a bomb on the railway in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo Wednesday morning, said the military.
Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the explosion occurred at about 7:15 a.m. (0145 GMT) between Wellawatta and Dehiwala railway stations.
Nanayakkara said among the injured were three females and 14 males, adding that they have been rushed to the hospital after the explosion.
A carriage of the train and a section of the railway track were slightly damaged in the accident.
The spokesman said a remote control device was used in the attack and the rebel Libation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was “certainly behind the attack.”
He said a search operation is being carried out by the Army and the police but no suspect has been arrested so far.
Local newspaper Daily Mirror reported on its website that the suspect was seen carrying the bomb by the people from the surrounding area.
“When the crowd noticed the suspect bomber they had shouted upon which he had thrown the bomb at the railway track and fled,” said the newspaper.
The explosion came as Sri Lanka’s security forces intensified its military campaign against LTTE rebels in the north with the aim of crushing them before the end of 2008.
The LTTE has been fighting the troops since the mid-1980s to carve out a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east, resulting in the death of more than 70,000 people.