Blast hits bus in Sri Lanka as truce scrapped

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO (Reuters) - A suspected Tamil Tiger roadside bomb hit a civilian bus in north-central Sri Lanka on Wednesday, bomb squad and military officials said, as a 6-year ceasefire between the state and rebels formally expires.

There were no immediate details of casualties from the blast in the town of Buttala in the district of Moneragala, officials said. It was the latest in a series of roadside bomb attacks blamed on the rebels, who are fighting to create an independent state in the island's north and east.

"An explosion hit a civilian bus. There are no details on any casualties," a bomb squad officer told Reuters, asking not to be named in line with policy.

A 2002 ceasefire which broke down on the ground two years ago formally ends later on Wednesday after President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government announced a fortnight ago it was scrapping the pact, triggering fears fighting that has killed thousands will deepen.

The government argues the rebels simply used the peace pact, which Nordic monitors said the Tigers violated thousands of times, to buy time to regroup and rearm and that they were not sincere about talking peace.

The government, also accused of hundreds of truce violations, has vowed to wipe out the Tigers militarily, setting the stage for what many fear will be a bloody battle for the north as a death toll of around 70,000 people since the war erupted in 1983 climbs daily.

"The end of the ceasefire is likely to unleash fresh violence that will lead to serious human rights abuses, including an increase in enforced disappearances and abductions as a counter-insurgency strategy, as well as unlawful killings," Catherine Baber, Asia-Pacific programme director for Amnesty International, said in a statement.