Bombs kill 1, hurt 15 in north Sri Lanka enclave

Jaffna (Sri Lanka), Jan 23: Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels exploded two roadside bombs in Sri Lanka's army-held northern Jaffna peninsula today, officials said, killing one civilian and wounding 15 -- including two schoolchildren.

One blast occured near the garrison town of Jaffna itself and the other near a market in the small town of Chavakachcheri along a highway that leads to a forward defence line separating government from rebel territory, officials said.

''A bomb was fixed to a motorbike and left by the road near the market,'' said a police officer in Chavakachcheri, refusing to give his name. ''One woman was killed.'' The attacks come in the wake of a major military setback for the Tigers in the island's east, where the army has captured a one of their strongholds and vowed to evict them from nearby jungle altogether -- which would hem the rebels into the island's far northeast.

The government gave the Tigers an ultimatum yesterday either to agree to peace talks or face more war and expulsion from the island's east, which analysts fear could escalate a new chapter of a two decade civil war that has killed more than 67,000 people since 1983.

The Tigers say they cannot trust the government, and have resumed their fight for an independent state for minority Tamils they accuse successive majority-Sinhalese governments of discriminating against.

Reuters

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