Clashes kill 21 in Sri Lanka despite peace hopes

November 28, 2000
Web posted at: 10:37 PM HKT (1437 GMT)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) -- Sporadic clashes in Sri Lanka's north and east left at least 21 dead, including seven civilians killed in a bus blast, a government statement said on Tuesday.

Dozens were also wounded in the latest attacks that come at a time of growing hopes about a breakthrough in ending the nation's 17-year ethnic conflict.

The statement said the seven were killed when a rebel land mine exploded under a bus near Kebithigollewa in the Anuradhpura district, 250 km (155 miles) northeast of the capital Colombo.

"Out of the seven civilians killed, three are women including one schoolgirl," the statement said.

It said 27 civilians were wounded in the explosion.

The attack came hours after rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran made a landmark appeal for unconditional talks with the government, raising hopes of a negotiated end to the war which has claimed more than 61,000 lives since 1983.

Kebithigollewa lies on the border of Sri Lanka's North East Province, where the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is fighting for a separate minority Tamil state.

The statement said the rebels also attacked an army post in the nearby Padaviya area before dawn on Tuesday, killing two soldiers and wounding two others. One guerrilla was also killed.

Troops killed 11 rebels in skirmishes in the northern Jaffna peninsula on Monday, and the statement said 13 soldiers were wounded in the fighting.

Monday's statement by Prabhakaran, on the rebels' clandestine radio, made no mention of the LTTE's previous stringent conditions of a troop withdrawal and a cease fire before talks, prompting analysts to say the door to peace talks was now open wider.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For more ASIANOW news, myCNN.com will bring you news from the areas and subjects you select.

See related sites about South Asia
South Asian media sites

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.