A suspected Tamil rebel suicide bomber killed at least seven troops and one civilian in a blast at a guard post near the Sri Lankan capital yesterday, authorities said.
Another 17 people, including four civilians, were wounded.
The blast came as heavy fighting in the 25-year-old war between Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces raged in the country’s north. The navy said it destroyed a rebel boat while a pro-rebel Web site reported that at least 50 soldiers had been killed in a battle near a guerrilla stronghold.
Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the suicide bomber forced his way into the Civil Defense Force post in Wattala town and blew himself up. Wattala is a few kilometers north of Colombo.
The blast killed six Civil Defense Force officers, one army soldier and a civilian, while another 13 officers and four civilians were wounded, Nanayakkara said. He blamed the Tamil Tigers.
Dinesh Kumara, 29, was selling vegetables at a nearby fair when the blast went off.
“I heard a huge sound. Then when I ran to the site, I saw flesh and blood splattered all over the area,” Kumara said.
A photographer at the scene saw several bodies and body parts on the ground.
No one claimed responsibility for the blast and there was no immediate comment from the guerrillas.
The Tamil Tigers, listed by the US and the EU as a terrorist organization, routinely deny involvement in suicide attacks. Sri Lankan authorities accuse the separatists of having carried out more than 240 suicide bombings against political, military and economic targets since the early 1980s.
The bombing came amid intensified efforts by government forces to overrun the Tamil rebels’ de facto northern state. Fighting has escalated in recent months, with the military saying it has captured several rebel bases and large chunks of territory and vowing that the end of the separatist insurgency is imminent.
Navy spokesman D.K.P. Dassanayake said government forces destroyed a Tamil Tiger rebel boat carrying supplies off the island’s northern coast yesterday, killing at least four insurgents. He said the vessel may have been carrying fuel.
Rebel spokesmen could not be contacted for comment because communications to much of the north have been severed.
Meanwhile, the rebel-linked TamilNet Web site reported yesterday that rebel fighters killed at least 50 government troops in fighting on Saturday near the rebel stronghold of Mullaitivu.
Nanayakkara dismissed the account and said only nine soldiers were killed in that area.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS