The Ceylon News

A woman has been killed and 13 passengers wounded after a grenade was thrown at a bus carrying war-displaced refugees in Sri Lanka, a military spokesman has said.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the bus was attacked on Saturday while transporting people into government controlled territory in the northern village of Puliyankulam.

A 59-year-old woman was killed and the wounded included four children, Nanayakkara said.

Officials from the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) could not be contacted for comment.

The government has accused the LTTE, who have recently lost strongholds to government forces in the north, of holding scores of people as human shields and killing civilians who want to escape.

Civilian toll

The LTTE has denied the allegations.

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Sarasi Wijeratne, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said wounded civilians continue to flock to the makeshift hospital, which is overwhelmed despite moving 640 patients and their relatives from the facility earlier this week.

On Friday, troops fought the LTTE near Vishwamadu village, which was recently captured by the government. Five bodies along with assault rifles were found, Nanayakkara said.

Recent military gains have provided the government with what it says is its best chance of defeating the LTTE and ending their 25-year campaign for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic minority Tamils.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence till date.