Sri Lankan military says roadside bomb blast kills 2 soldiers in north

Published Wednesday, February 13, 2008

By Agencies

A roadside bomb blast blamed on separatist Tamil Tigers killed two soldiers in northern Sri Lanka early Wednesday, the military said.

Insurgents detonated the explosive near the town of Vavuniya at about 7:15 am, targeting soldiers on foot patrol, said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara.

There was no immediate comment from the rebels, who have been fighting since 1983 for an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils after decades of being marginalized by Sinhalese-dominated governments.

The fighting has killed more than 70,000 people.

Violence has escalated on this Indian Ocean island since the government withdrew from a 2002 cease-fire with the Tigers last month.

Fighting has increased near the rebel strongholds in the north in recent months after the government vowed to crush the Tigers’ decades-old insurgency. Violence over the past two years has killed about 5,000 people. (AP)

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