The Madhu School bus bombing also known as Thadchanamadhu claymore attackwas the bombing of a

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...

carried out on January 29, 2008 in rebel LTTE controlled area in Thadchanamadhu in

Mannar Mannar may refer to the following places: India * Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Chengannur Taluk, Kerala Sri Lanka * Mannar District, one of 25 districts in Sri Lanka ** Mannar Island, an island within the district **Mannar Bridge, a bridge connect ...

, Northern province of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. The bombing killed 17 Tamils, including 11 school children, and injured at least 14 more people. The

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

and NESHOR accused the

Sri Lankan Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

’s

deep penetration unit The Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) ( Sinhala: දිගු දුර විහිදුම් බලකාය ''Digu Dura Vihidum Balakaya'') (Tamil:ஆழ ஊடுருவித்தாக்கும் படையணி) is a cov ...

for the attack but the Army denied the allegations. This attack was the second attack on a civilian bus in the month of January in

Background

On January 02 2008, the government of Sri Lanka officially pulled out of the cease fire signed in 2002.The area lies near the border between Sri Lankan Army and rebel LTTE controlled areas and around 22 claymore attacks had taken place earlier killing 62 people.Students were returning from Mannar Sinapandivirichchan Government Tamil Mixed School travel through this route daily.

Incident

On 29 January 2008 a bus carrying civilians was hit by a claymore mine that resulted in the death of 17 civilians including 11 school children and injuring 14 more people. This incident took place in the town of

about 1 km from the Madhu Church which is a LTTE rebel controlled area. The pro-rebel Tamilnet reported that the civilian bus was hit by a claymore that was triggered by

Sri Lankan Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

’s

. It further claimed that the victims were students and teachers returning from a sporting event. The Sri Lankan Army denied any responsibility and claimed that there was no military unit operating in the area at that time.

References

External links

NESHOR Report list of victims
{{coord missing, Sri Lanka 2008 crimes in Sri Lanka Attacks on civilians attributed to the Sri Lanka Army Bus bombings in Asia Massacres in Sri Lanka Mass murder in 2008 Mass murder of Sri Lankan Tamils Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 2008 Crimes against children

Background

Incident

See also

References

External links