Blasts Mar Sri Lankan Holiday

Four separate bombings today rang in Sri Lanka's 60th anniversary of its independence, capping off a string of four consecutive days that have seen horrific violence, CNN reports. A roadside bomb claimed the lives of 12 and wounded 17 passengers on a bus, and a soldier died in a separate strike on a military tractor.

Those deadly blasts struck just after President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave a speech expressing confidence that the government would prevail over separatist rebels the Tamil Tigers, who are allegedly responsible for the violence. Two other explosions in the Colombo area did not cause any fatalities, although one destroyed a power transformer and several houses. (More Sri Lanka stories.)