NUGEGODA, Sri Lanka — Ethnic Tamil separatists set off a bomb at a popular department store in a suburb of the capital Wednesday, killing 17 people in a rare attack targeting civilians, the Sri Lankan military said.
The blast, which came just hours after a suicide bomber tried to kill a Cabinet minister, showed that the Tamil Tiger rebels are still capable of striking deep in government territory despite months of punishing military attacks on their power base in the north.
The attacks came a day after the rebels said that 22 civilians, including 11 schoolchildren, were killed in attacks inside rebel-controlled territory. They blamed the military, but the government denied responsibility for the roadside bombing that killed the children.
