Eight killed - 46 injured when bus runs over landmine in Sri Lanka

The incident occurred in Thammennawa, 200 kilometres northeast of Colombo, as the bus was heading to the north central Anurdahapura area.

The police said the mine had been planted in a culvert. They blamed the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) but said they could not rule out the possibility that the mine had been planted by the Sri Lankan military.

The blast came hours after the Tamil rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran offered to open unconditional talks with the Sri Lankan government to end the Tamil minority ethnic conflict.

The rebel chief, who made the offer Monday night, wants the Sri Lankan government to create a conducive climate for peace talks by de-escalating military operations, restoring civilian life and lifting what he called "economic sanctions" on the north and east.

The police said Tamil rebels, in an incident on Monday close to the explosion site, attacked a group of soldiers who had been providing cover for a group of civilians bathing in the area. A soldier and a civilian were killed in the Monday morning attack. The rebels claim to be fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the north and eastern parts of the country.

(la/dpa)