A bus explosion in Sri Lanka ended up killing 23 people and injuring other 67, authorities reported. The Tamil Tigers are presumably held responsible for the tragedy, in which a bus carrying school children passed near a land mine or a bomb planted on the side of the road when the blast occurred. Coincidence or not, the incident took place just hours after the cease-fire agreement between the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the government formally ended.

According to authorities from the Defense Ministry, not only was the bomb planted there, but the attackers immediately opened fire after the explosion, injuring and killing even more innocent victims, most of them children. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or the Tamil Tigers as they are known, have not claimed the attack yet.

The deflagration took place 150 miles southeast of the capital Colombo, and due to the nature of the attacks, the schools in the area have been closed indefinitely, until further notice. The ministry of defense blamed the Tamil Tigers, considering their action as an act of cowardice, targeting innocent school children.   

The Tamil Tigers, which are considered by the U.S., E.U. and India as a terrorist group, have led their own battle in order to create a separate state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Velupillai Prabhakaran founded it 32 years ago, and in the beginning, the organization targeted government members or politicians, however, a decade later, the suicide attacks began.

This week’s attack followed the assassination of Sri Lanka’s nation building minister DM Dassanayake, who was also killed after a roadside bomb explosion. It is less likely for the rebels and the government to reach a steady agreement, as they currently accuse each other of killing civilians, including innocent children. The fight that lasted decades made over 70,000 victims, and unfortunately the numbers won’t stop here.