A bomb ripped through a crowded passenger bus near Sri Lanka's capital during Friday's morning rush hour, killing at least 21 people and wounding 47, officials said, according to AP. The bombing was the second attack in three days targeting civilians in and around Colombo, and authorities promptly blamed the Tamil Tiger rebels, who have made such attacks a hallmark of their 25-year fight against Sri Lanka's government. If carried out by the rebels _ who offered no immediate comment and routinely deny any role in such bombings _ the attack would show their ability to strike deep inside government territory despite a maze of security checkpoints around the capital and its suburbs. Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said the Tamil Tigers detonated a roadside bomb at about 7:35 a.m. (0530 GMT) in the Colombo suburb of Moratuwa as the passenger bus went by. The attack killed 21 people and wounded 47, he said, adding that a curfew has been imposed in the area to give soldiers and police a chance to search for suspected rebels. The explosion shattered the vehicle's windows and peppered it with shrapnel. A 45-year old man who identified himself only as Nalaka said he was thrown from his motorcycle by the explosion. «When I got up I saw the bus and quickly got into it. Some people lay dead. Some others were bleeding,» he told AP Television News. «I heard somebody screaming 'help, help,' and I rushed to him, but I could not move him because he was heavy.» The rebels, blamed for scores of suicide bombings and other attacks on civilians, are listed as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union and India. They are believed to have been behind a blast Wednesday that targeted a passenger train in Colombo and wounded 19 people. President Mahinda Rajapaksa blamed Friday's attack on the Tigers and called on Sri Lankans to «remain vigilant against the forces of terror.»
