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Deaths in Sri Lanka train blast
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SCI-TECH
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By Agencies
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![The blast occurred on a packed train outside the Sri Lankan capital [AFP]](http://mwcnews.net/images/stories/Asia/lanka/1/2/train-blast.jpg "The blast occurred on a packed train outside the Sri Lankan capital [AFP]") | | The blast occurred on a packed train outside the Sri Lankan capital [AFP] |
At least seven people have have been killed and scores wounded in a bomb attack on a commuter train near Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, the country's military has said.
A pregnant woman was among seven people who died in the attack on Monday, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, Sri Lanka's military spokesman, said.
"Seven innocent civilians have been killed and 67 innocent people have been injured," he said.
He said that a parcel bomb placed on a luggage rack detonated as the train pulled into Dehiwela station, just south of the capital, during the evening rush hour.
He said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an armed separatist group, was responsible for the attack.
The LTTE have not commented on the Sri Lankan military's allegations.
Packed train
There have been several bombings against civilian and security targets in recent months. Sri Lankan authorities have blamed most of the attacks on the LTTE, which is fighting for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils.
Fighting has escalated in Sri Lanka since the start of the year, when the government pulled out of a truce with the LTTE.
Both sides say that each others' forces are targeting civilians - whether Tamil suicide attackers venturing into the south or army forces operating inside the rebel-held north.
Last week, the LTTE said that an army unit had killed 20 Tamil civilians in mine attacks in the north.
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