Sri Lanka says Tigers target bus, up to 30 dead

COLOMBO, June 15 (Reuters) Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels blasted a civilian bus today, officials said, with up to 30 feared dead in what looked likely to be the worst attack on civilians since a 2002 ceasefire.

Some 500 people have been killed since early April as talks between the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) collapsed and many now fear a slide back into the island's two decade civil war.

''We believe 30 innocent civilians have been killed and many more wounded,'' said a spokesman for the government's national security media centre. ''Definitely the LTTE. It has to be.'' The Tigers were not immediately available for comment, but have previously denied involvement in similar attacks on troops across the minority Tamil dominated north and east, where they want a separate homeland.

The blast occurred in the north-central province of Anuradapura, police said. Officials said most of the dead were likely to be from the island's Sinhalese majority. Police said some schoolchildren were on the bus.

REUTERS SRS VC0945