The deadly bus bombing took place in Buttala, about 240 km southeast of Colombo. The roadside claymore mine “targeting the bus exploded at 7.40 am,” military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said, adding it was followed by another explosion.

One survivor told the Defence Ministry officials that the militants “remorselessly shot” at people who were jumping out of the bus following the blast.

An armoured military vehicle was damaged in the second blast in the same area in which three soldiers were injured, Nanayakkara said.

“Everyone who got out through the doors, were shot and killed,” said a 25-year-old passenger, who gave his name as Sampath. “I jumped from the window and escaped.”

The violence highlighted the insurgents’ ability to hit deep in government territory and stoked fears that the official end of the truce would lead to even worse violence.

President Mahinda Rajapakse condemned the attack as “unmitigated brutality”, and said although it was timed to coincide with the government’s official withdrawal from the cease-fire, it simply mirrored other attacks by the separatist group in recent months.

“This is a brazen demonstration to the whole world of its unchanged commitment to terrorism and the absolute rejection of democracy and all norms of civilised behaviour in the pursuit of its unacceptable goal of separation,” he said in a statement.

Doctors from Colombo were flown to the area by emergency helicopters to treat the wounded, and the national health services made an emergency appeal for blood donations. Authorities announced a three-day closure of all schools in the province.

Soon after the attack, a second roadside bomb struck an armoured military vehicle in the same region, injuring three soldiers, Nanayakkara said.

The government blamed LTTE for the violence. Rebel spokesmen could not be reached for comment.

Though scrapping the truce has little direct impact on the raging war, the Cabinet’s unanimous decision two weeks ago to annul the deal was criticised by peace mediators and foreign governments, who worried it would make it even more difficult to end the decades-old conflict.