Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed 8 sailors in a fragmentation mine ambush on a main supply route in Sri Lanka's north on Thursday, the Navy said, amid growing fears of a return to civil war, according to Reuters. The strike in army-held territory in the north-central district of Vavuniya comes after a series of similar mine attacks killed 39 military personnel in December. "A Navy bus exploded due to a claymore mine attack," a Navy spokesman said. "It is eight dead and eight wounded," he added, revising down an earlier death toll of nine. Claymores are blocks of plastic explosive at the end of a trip-wire or control line that send ball bearings and metal flying out towards their target, to devasating effect. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were not immediately available for comment, but have routinely denied involvement in a series of attacks that have strained a 2002 ceasefire to breaking point.
