A Tamil Tiger suicide bomber tried to blow up an army camp in Sri Lanka yesterday, killing nine people a day after rebels carried out their first air strike since fighting erupted in 1983.
The military said troops shot the suicide bomber as he tried to drive an explosives-laden tractor into the camp in Batticaloa, setting off an explosion which killed him, three soldiers and five civilians, and wounded 13 others. The military responded to the attacks with a second consecutive day of air strikes across Tiger-held territory, saying it had destroyed artillery and mortar positions. "We suspect there were more than 200kg of explosives [in the tractor]," said military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe. "You can't find even a piece of the trailer. If it had come into the camp, it would have been a major disaster." |