Sri Lankan military’s Deep Penetration Unit targeted a bus ferrying children from a sports event in Vanni killing 20 people including 11 children.

A critically injured boy receives treatment.

On Tuesday January 29, 20 civilians, including 11 school children, a teacher of Thadchanaamaruthamadu Roman Catholic Tamil Mixed School, the driver, conductor and two hospital workers were killed and 14 wounded when a Deep Penetration Unit of Sri Lanka Army triggered a Claymore mine targeting the bus carrying school children in Madu division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam controlled territory. Eight school children were among the wounded.

Dr Vettinathan, a local medical official told the BBC News website: "There are about 20 casualties (in hospital)...four or five of the victims are in a serious condition. There is one doctor in the hospital."

Bishop Rayappu Joseph told the BBC that the bus travelling near the town of Mannar was hit by a claymore mine in an area controlled by the Tamil Tigers.

The bus was 1 km away from Madu church, after having picked up the children at Thadchanaamaruthamadu and was on its way to Paalampiddi from Madu.

Bishop Joseph said victims of the attack had been taken to Pallamadu hospital, south-west of Mannar.

The principal of the displaced Chinna Pandivirichchaan school, S.M.G Lambert, 46, was one of the 12 critically wounded, transferred to Muzhankaavil. He was one of the seven severely wounded patients who were later transferred to Kilinochchi hospital. Two of them succumbed to their injuries on the way. Dead bodies of the two victims were handed over to Akkaraayan hospital.

Rev. Fr. Emilianus Pillai, from Madu Church, told TamilNet that tension prevailed at the attack site as SLA started firing artillery shells after the explosion, causing panic among the civilians who were helping the victims.

The head of the rebels' peace secretariat, S Pulithevan, told the BBC that the children were returning from a sports meeting.
He said that seven adults, including teachers, were among the dead and blamed the Sri Lankan military for planting a roadside bomb.
The Sri Lankan military, however, denied any involvement.
In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, B. Nadesan, head of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said the army's Deep Penetration Unit had "deliberately" targeted the school bus.
"Since the present president of Sri Lanka took office in November 2005, 2,056 Tamil civilians, including 132 Tamil children, have been massacred by the state forces," he added.

He said the government had not only abrogated the truce it signed in 2002 with the LTTE but had "adamantly" refused to allow UN human rights monitoring in the war zone.

Nadesan claimed that the LTTE had cooperated with Norwegian peace brokers and declared its commitment to the truce pact "100 percent".

"It should be obvious to the international community that there is only one path open to regain the rights of the Tamil people and that is for the international community to recognise the sovereignty of the Tamil nation," Nadesan said.