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Sri Lanka's Tamil civil war escalates, 33 dead, 49 wounded |
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May 31, 2000 a top government spokesman said.
The rebels exploded a Claymore mine in the government-held town of Vavuniya, killing eight policemen and wounding 17, said Ariya Rubasinghe, director of the Government Information Department in Colombo.
North of Vavuniya, in the Jaffna peninsula where most of Sri Lanka's 17-year-old civil war is being fought, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam killed seven soldiers and wounded 32, Rubasinghe said.
He said government troops retaliated, killing 18 rebels. There was no claim of responsibility for the mine explosion that occurred as a truck carrying policemen left Vavuniya, said a local police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Two policemen died immediately. Of 23 admitted to the local hospital, another six died there, said a nurse reached by telephone. Under a National Security Act in force in Sri Lanka, police and government officials are barred from talking to reporters. The law is vague and anyone can be penalized under it for divulging information that the government may consider harmful to the national interest.
The police officer said the attack was similar to those carried out by the Tamil Tigers, the Tamil separatist group fighting for a homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million minority Tamils. The rebels often use Claymore mines.
Rubasinghe said "preliminary investigation suggests" that the rebels were behind the explosion in Vavuniya, a Tamil majority town not affected directly by the war. However, the rebels do target government forces in the area, which serves as a major military base.
"Our security forces have started a manhunt and we hope to nab the perpetrator of the crime," Rubasinghe said.
Vavuniya, 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of Colombo, is the last major town before the northern battle zone, where government forces are fighting an advance by the rebels.
The rebels say the Tamils face discrimination by the majority Sinhalese, who make up 14 million of the island nation's 18.6 million people.
The government says Tamils have equal rights.
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