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Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka explosion 'kills five'
2006-05-01
At least five people have been killed in a mine attack in north-eastern Sri Lanka blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels, local military officials say. The explosion in the port town of Trincomalee was apparently aimed at a navy patrol, officials said. In a separate incident, the navy says five sailors have been wounded in an exchange of fire with the Tigers. It follows recent violence that has strained a fragile ceasefire and thrown peace talks into doubt.
There's more strain on this ceasefire than in one of Dolly Parton's bras
Four Tamil civilians and a navy official were killed in the blast in Trincomalee which took place in a residential part of the town. Eight others, including four navy sailors, are said to have been injured. "The people who did it are not humans, there are small children and ladies around," Kamalachandran, a local resident whose daughter was hurt in the blast, told AP.

Separately, the Sri Lankan navy said boats from the Sea Tigers - the rebels' naval wing, attacked one of its vessels off the coast of Trincomalee. "They have opened fire and attacked our Dvora," Reuters quoted navy spokesman DKP Dassanayake as saying, referring to the Israeli-built Dvora fast-attack craft.
"We retaliated in self-defence."

The BBC's Dumeetha Luthra in Colombo says the attacks are a sign that bloodshed is once again increasing.
Can't slip anything past the BBC
International mediators have been scrambling to save a truce between the rebels and the government, which has been threatened by a fresh outbreak of violence this month. Last Tuesday, a rebel suicide bomber killed at least 11 people at a military base in Colombo, triggering government air raids, which killed at least 12 people. More than 60,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka since the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) launched its campaign for a separate state in the north and east of the country in 1983.
Posted by:Steve

#1  "International mediators have been scrambling to save a truce between the rebels and the government"

The unbiased and trustworthy Norwegians will make it all better.
Posted by: Fordesque   2006-05-01 11:00  

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