Sri Lanka Denies Soldiers Attacked School Bus Killing 18 People

Sri Lanka's military rejected a Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam statement that soldiers
attacked a school bus killing 18 people, 11 of them children, in the northwest of the
country.
An army Deep Penetration Unit carried out a mine attack on the bus yesterday in the
Mannar district, the LTTE Peace Secretariat said in an e-mailed statement. Two teachers 
and a school principal were among those killed, it said.
There were no military operations so far inside rebel-held territory yesterday, said Brigadier Udaya Nanyakkara, a military spokesman, according to the Defense Ministry's Web site.
The army is attacking LTTE bases in the north after driving the Tamil Tigers from the east in
July. Sri Lanka's government ended a 2002 cease-fire with the LTTE on Jan. 16,prompting the United Nations to call on the two sides to prevent the conflict escalating and human rights violations increasing.