Blasts Rock Sri Lanka Port Town

BBC News

April 12, 2006

At least nine people have been killed in a suspected bomb attack at a market in eastern Sri Lanka, officials say.

The blast in Trincomalee brought angry crowds onto the streets who set several shops on fire. Reports speak of a number of other blasts in the town.

Earlier, two policemen were killed and two hurt in a blast near the port.

It was the latest suspected rebel attack on security forces since Monday, in which 20 people have died and comes ahead of talks aimed at saving a truce.

Tamil Tiger rebels deny involvement in the attacks.

More than 20 people are said to have been injured in the market blast in Trincomalee.

An eyewitness, Saman Mallawaarachchi, says he saw several bodies scattered on the road.

Fish wholesaler, Lahiru Hettige, was at a nearby fish market when the bomb exploded.

"We immediately ran outside and there were scenes of chaos in the vegetable market," he told the BBC News website.

"I could see that the dead and injured included young children and women."

A curfew has now been imposed in Trincomalee following the reaction from local residents.

Separately, international monitors have described the situation as getting out of control.

"There seems to be widespread rioting in Trincomalee," Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission spokeswoman Helen Olafsdottir said.

Rebels accused

Officials say the first attack on Tuesday took place as the policemen were travelling in a vehicle just outside Trincomalee.

"It was a claymore [anti-personnel mine] attack," Senior Superintendent of police Nihal Samarakoon told Reuters news agency.

"Two were killed and two were injured. It was the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]," he added.

On Tuesday, 10 sailors and their driver were killed after a navy bus hit a mine near Trincomalee, officials said.

Another nine sailors were hurt in the blast, six of them critically. Two British women in a passing vehicle were also hurt.

International envoys are currently in Sri Lanka for talks with the government and rebels ahead of the planned resumption of peace talks in Switzerland next week.

The government says it will go ahead with the talks.

"The government will not be sidetracked into jettisoning the current peace process by mere provocative acts by the LTTE," the state-run Daily News quoted a government official, Palitha Kohana, as saying.

A surge in attacks at the turn of the year abated after agreement was secured to hold talks in February, but violence has risen again in recent weeks.

The Tamil Tigers want autonomy for minority Tamils in the north and east of Sri Lanka. More than 60,000 people have died during two decades of conflict.