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Violence in north and south | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
At least two policemen and six civilians have been killed in attacks in Sri Lanka. One Tamil civilian was said to be a former member of a political party which opposes the Tamil Tiger rebels. An anti-personnel mine also killed two policemen and one civilian near the northern district of Vavuniya. The attacks come two days before government representatives and Tamil Tigers leaders are due to meet in Norway to discuss the safety of international truce monitors. Escalating violence has killed more than three-hundred people since the beginning of April, despite a ceasefire agreed in 2002. There was also a bomb attack outside a naval base near the capital, Colombo, which injured two people. Officials said the roadside device was aimed at a naval convoy and blamed the Tamil Tigers.
The bomb exploded as a bus pulled up outside the Welisara navy camp, injuring the driver and a conductor. Officials say the bomb, believed to be an anti-personnel mine, was intended to hit a naval convoy. Violence between rebels and the army has escalated this year, with more than 200 people killed in the past month. The navy camp targeted on Tuesday is close to a highway connecting Colombo with the country's only international airport. No group has said it carried out the attack, but the government pointed the finger at the rebels. "It is obviously the work of the Tamil Tigers," navy spokesman PDK Dassanayake told the AFP news agency. "We are not sure if they targeted a civilian bus or were aiming at a navy vehicle. But they carried out the attack in a built up area risking the lives of civilians." Talks The attack comes two days before the Sri Lankan government and the rebel leaders are due to meet for talks in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, to review their faltering ceasefire. It is also the first attack near Colombo since April, when at least eight people were killed and the head of the army seriously injured by a suicide bomber at Sri Lanka's army headquarters. The military blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for the attack and launched air strikes on their positions in the east. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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India's frustration with Sri Lanka over Tamils