COLOMBO, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- At least
seven people including four policemen were killed in a road side claymore mine explosion in
eastern Sri Lanka Wednesday morning, defense officials said.
Two soldiers and one civilian were also among the killed in the explosion carried out by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels, said officials from the Media Center for National Security, adding that11 people from the security forces were injured.
The claymore mine targeted a bus traveling from the eastern town of Batticaloa, 329 km east of here, to the north central town of Polonnaruwa at around 11:40 a.m. local time (0610 GMT).
The bus was carrying police and army personnel going on leave when it hit the claymore mine opposite the Eastern University in Batticaloa, officials said.
The attack came about two weeks after government troops captured the major stronghold of Vakarai in the east from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Over 3,900 people have been killed in Sri Lanka's escalating violence since December 2005 despite appeals by the international community on both sides to get back to the negotiating table.
