Buried Bombs Explode in Sri Lanka Villages; 34 Die

Thirty-four people were killed early today when Tamil rebels detonated buried explosives in two attacks in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, a military official said.

The dead included 15 Tamil youths being released from government detention, he said, adding that 12 other people were injured in the blasts.

The official, who could not be identified under briefing rules, said that Tamil rebels set off the explosives under a civilian bus in eastern Sri Lanka and under military trucks in the country’s northern Jaffna Peninsula.

The blast at the village of Morawewa near the eastern port city of Trincomalee ripped through a privately owned passenger bus, killing 16 Sinhalese civilians, the official said.

3 Soldiers Killed

At almost the same time, he said, buried explosives were detonated under a military convoy near the village of Tikkam in Kankestanthurai district on the Jaffna Peninsula. The village is about 12 miles north of the city of Jaffna.

The dead in that explosion included three soldiers and 15 Tamil youths who were being taken home after being released from government detention Wednesday in the south of the island, the official said.

Tamil rebels who have been waging a four-year guerrilla war for an independent Tamil nation have frequently used buried explosives to blow up army convoys.

Tamils make up about 18% of Sri Lanka’s 16 million people. Most Tamils are Hindus, and they claim they are discriminated against by the Buddhist Sinhalese majority. Moderate Tamils want more autonomy for their communities in the north and east of Sri Lanka, where they predominate. Militant Tamils are fighting for a separate nation.

Sri Lanka lies 18 miles off the tip of India at its closest point. Most Sri Lankan Tamils have close ties with Tamils in the souther Indian state of Tamil Nadu.