At least 25 people were killed and more than 40 wounded when a bomb ripped through a commuter bus on the outskirts of the Sri Lankan capital today, the military said.
The bomb, which the government blamed on Tamil Tigers, struck the bus in a residential suburb of Colombo during the evening rush hour.
"It's a parcel bomb of about 3kg (6 lbs) with a time device. It was placed in the middle of the bus," said a bomb-disposal official.
Bystanders look on the wreckage of the bombed bus
The attack happened while the bus stopped to pick up passengers in the city's southern suburb of Piliyandala, officials said.
"I was with my mother and brother at the bus halt going back home after classes," said 14-year-old Ishani Perera, who suffered injuries to her arms. "Suddenly I heard a loud explosion and everybody around fell down. I too fell. I can't find my mother now."
Fighting between government forces and Tiger rebels, locked in a 25-year civil war, has recently intensified.
Dozens of Tamil Tiger fighters and government troops were killed this week in heavy fighting on the Jaffna Peninsula in the far north.
After driving the rebels out of the east, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government has pledged to destroy them militarily.
The rebels have retaliated with bombings in Colombo and elsewhere in the relatively peaceful south when they have come under military pressure in the past.
The government formally pulled out of a six-year-old ceasefire pact in January.