Blasts kill 5 in Sri Lanka as bus bombing probed

Colombo, Jan 6: Suspected Tamil Tiger bomb attacks killedfour soldiers and a civilian in north Sri Lanka today, as policequestioned 18 people over a blast that killed six civilians and woundeddozens on a bus a day earlier.

Three soldiers and a civilian were killed when a truck hit a amine in the northern district of Vavuniya, while another soldier waskilled in a similar attack on the northern Jaffna peninsula.

Police were still searching for the culprits of yesterday's busbombing 36 km outside Colombo -- the second such attack to directlytarget civilians rather than the military or politicians -- but had notyet made any arrests.

''We are still investigating. At the moment 18 people are being questioned, but no one is in custody,'' said E.W.

Prathapasinghe, a Deputy Inspector General of Police for the island's Western Province.

Officials put the death toll at six, including one child, and said around 60 other passengers were hurt, 10 of them seriously.

''Every government has given promises of finishing the war, butthey are only promises and a dream for us. We are suffering,''22-year-old survivor R. Rasika said from a Colombo hospital, unable tohear or see properly.

''People in the north are suffering and being killed too,'' thearchitecture student added. ''The government needs to find a peacefulsolution. This country is not just for (majority) Sinhalese people. Ithink we need to find a practical power sharing system.'' The Tigerswere not immediately available for comment on the blasts, but routinelydeny involvement in bombings and ambushes.

''Yesterday's bombing bears all the hallmarks of Tiger attacks,''said Iqbal Athas, an analyst for Jane's Defence Weekly. ''The fact thatthey have now started targeting (civilians) is a cause for concern.

''One cannot rule out more attacks on civilians,'' he added.

More than 3,000 troops, civilians and rebel fighters were killedin a spree of ambushes, suicide bombings, air raids, naval clashes andland battles last year despite a 2002 ceasefire, which internationalmonitors say now exists only on paper.

Reuters

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