COLOMBO, Feb 23: Eighteen people were injured here on Saturday morning in a bus bomb blast.

The bomb exploded in Mount Lavinia, a Colombo suburb, soon after a woman noticed a parcel on the bus rack and alerted the conductor, sources said.

“The bus was being evacuated and passengers told to disembark when the bomb exploded,” a police official said.

The bus was completely charred in the explosion while several adjoining shops too were damaged, eye witnesses said.

The incident was the latest in a series of bombings by the rebels targeting civilians in Colombo and the South that has left scores dead since the beginning of this year.

Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nannayakkara said the bus bombing near the capital was a result of the LTTE’s ‘desperation’.

Saturday’s explosion took place hours after the government Air Force said it bombed an LTTE military base in northern rebel-controlled territory.

On Friday, the Tiger rebels claimed that eight civilians, including three children were killed, in air raids carried out by the Air Force in the rebel held Killinochchi district.