Five Tamil youths were killed and two injured in a grenade blast in northeastern Sri Lanka as regional violence escalated despite government efforts to renew peace talks with Tamil rebels, officials said Monday, according to DPA. Military officials said the explosion occurred when suspected Tamil rebels tried to throw a hand grenade at a group of government soldiers in the port city of Trincomalee, 240 kilometres northeast of Colombo Monday night. However, it was not immediately clear whether the fatalities included the attackers, he said. Soldiers had not suffered any casualties in the incident. However, the pro-rebel website Tamilnet said unidentified men had thrown a grenade at people seated on bench killing five persons and injuring two. --More 22 39 Local Time 19 39 GMT
