Blasts Kill Three, Set Off Ethnic Clashes

Ethnic clashes rocked Sri Lanka’s northeast after mine attacks blamed on the Tamil Tiger rebels killed at least three people in a wave of violence that has raised fears of renewed civil war.

The unrest near the city of Trincomalee came a day after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said it was indefinitely postponing talks with the government set for next week.

A mine explosion in the early morning killed one police guard and wounded another. A second blast in the same area a few hours later killed two soldiers and wounded two, the army and local police said. In the late afternoon, a civilian bus was caught in a third blast that wounded the driver.

The attacks prompted angry Sinhalese residents to set upon nearby Tamil settlements in riots that killed at least one.