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Tamil rebels strike navy camp

A Sri Lankan police officer and soldiers stand guard at the site of an explosion in Colombo yesterday. The blast near an army bus in the capital wounded four soldiers and a civilian, the government said. PHOTO: AP

A flotilla of rebel boats raided a navy camp in northern Sri Lanka early yesterday, killing as many as 35 sailors, hours before a bomb exploded near an army bus in the capital and wounded seven people.

The surge in violence came amid a deepening conflict between the government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels that has shattered an internationally backed peace process and left at least 5,000 people dead in the past 18 months.

The Tamil rebels attacked the navy base in the village of Delft just after midnight, arriving in 15 boats, navy spokesman Commander DKP Dassanayake said. Navy sailors sank one boat, he added.

The attack left 35 sailors dead, rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said. He said four insurgents were killed in the assault. His claims, however, could not be confirmed, and the military had no details on casualties from the attack.

"The fighting lasted only 20 minutes and we completely overran the camp," Ilanthirayan said. The rebel forces then fled the scene by boat, he said.

"Our attacking unit counted 35 bodies during the time they were in [the camp] but had to come back quickly."

Rasiah Ilanthirayan, Tamil Tigers spokesman

"Our attacking unit counted 35 bodies during the time they were in [the camp] but had to come back quickly," he said.

Ilanthirayan said the rebels attacked in about 12 boats, and none were sunk.

Later yesterday morning in Colombo, the capital, a bomb exploded near a bus carrying soldiers.

The bomb, attached to a motorcycle parked in a crowded shopping area, exploded as the bus went past, said Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Upali Rajapakse. Four soldiers and three civilians were wounded, he said.

Passers-by rushed to help the victims.

"Soon after the explosion, the bus burst into flames, and then I brought the injured to the hospital," said Colombo resident Chandana Mahanama, who was traveling in his car just behind the bus when the bomb went off.

Rajapakse blamed the rebels for the bus bombing, but Ilanthirayan denied they were involved.

The violence occurred a day after the International Committee of the Red Cross announced it had withdrawn its staff from two checkpoints between government-held and rebel areas in northern Sri Lanka because of the escalating violence.

The withdrawal of the Red Cross effectively shuts down the checkpoints, stopping aid workers and cease-fire monitors from traveling between rebel-held and government areas.

On Wednesday, at least 15 people were killed in a roadside bomb and in clashes in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, the military said.

The rebels have fought the government since 1983 to create a separate homeland for the island nation's minority ethnic Tamils, who have suffered decades of discrimination under the Sinhalese-dominated government.

Nearly 70,000 people have died in the conflict, including about 5,000 killed since December 2005, when violence flared despite a 2002 cease-fire that is now in tatters.
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