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Twenty three, including 16 innocent civilians, mostly Tamils and seven security personnel were killed when a time bomb placed by the LTTE exploded near a Vesak pandal outside the Mangalaramaya Temple in Batticaloa on Wednesday evening, Special Media Information Centre (SMIC) said yesterday. Nine school children were among the 16 civilians killed and the explosion which occurred about 5.30 pm had injured 69 people including 41 civilians, 18 soldiers and 10 policemen. The injured were admitted to the Batticaloa teaching hospital. The nine students, Tamils and Muslims from Ayiththamalai, were reportedly on a Vesak sight seeing tour with their Parish Priest Rev. Chandra who was also injured and he is in intensive care at Batticaloa hospital. The bomb had been planted in an ice-cream box of a bicycle and the explosion had occurred when a boy wanting an ice cream had reportedly put his hand into the ice cream box. The blast in Batticaloa where the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities live in harmony, seems to be an attempt by the LTTE to trigger an ethnic backlash and bolster their propaganda machine, the SMIC statement said. A curfew has been declared in Batticaloa and all reports of the bombing was censored. According to the SMIC, the news of the attack was withheld because the government wanted to take necessary steps to safeguard innocent civilians and prevent any backlash. It said the fascist nature of the LTTE was evident in the setting off of a bomb near a temple on Vesak day. The Vesak pandal and lantern exhibition near the police station in Batticaloa is an annual event organised by the Army and Police.
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