Suicide bomber kills 67 in Sri Lanka

Colombo (dpa) - At least 67 sailors were killed Monday in a suicide bombing by suspected Tamil rebels on a convoy in north-central Sri Lanka, military officials said.

Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe, a military spokesman, said a suicide bomber rammed a truck filled with explosives into the convoy that was carrying sailors who had finished their leave to the north-eastern port city of Trincomalee.

At least 50 sailors were injured and brought to a hospital in Dambulla. The military was planning to airlift the more seriously wounded to Colombo.

The attack took place at Digampathana, between Dambulla and Habarana, 180 kilometres north-east of Colombo.

At least 200 sailors were in the convoy at the time of the blast.

Source:- Bangkok Post

Sri Lanka hits back at Tigers with air strikes

Colombo - Sri Lankan war planes have hit Tamil Tiger-controlled areas of the island after the rebels left over 100 people dead in their bloodiest ever suicide bombing, officials said Tuesday.

The defence ministry said its jets had hit Tiger targets in the wake of the suicide attack against a convoy of buses packed with sailors.

At least 103 people were killed and 150 others wounded in the attack, according to area hospitals. The bombing occurred about 170 kilometres (105 miles) northeast of Colombo at a transit point in restive Trincomalee district.

"Air force Kfir jets pounded a Tiger terrorist base in Puthukuddierippu in the evening," the defence ministry said.

"According to intelligence sources, air strikes have completely destroyed the Tiger military base."

However, the pro-rebel website Tamilnet.com said two children were killed and 15 others wounded when four Israeli-built Kfir jets pounded a civilian settlement inside rebel-held territory, destroying nine homes.

The ministry said in a separate statement that a Kfir crashed into a lagoon near the island's only international airport after the bombing mission, but the pilot ejected to safety and was rescued by a helicopter.

Monday's bombing was the deadliest suicide attack in Sri Lanka's history, surpassing the January 1996 bombing of the south Asian country's central bank, where 91 people were killed.

The attack also coincided with stepped up international efforts to coax the Colombo government and Tamil Tiger guerrillas into peace negotiations later this month.

More than 2,300 people have been killed in Sri Lanka in spiralling violence since December, putting an end to a truce agreed to in February 2002. More than 60,000 people have been killed in ethnic violence since 1972.

Agence France Presse