A bus carrying Sri Lankan soldiers on New Year holidays hit by a mine planted by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels in the northeast Tuesday, killing 12 navy sailors and wounding eight others, the military said. Two British tourists from East Harling, Norwich, who were in another vehicle, were also wounded in the explosion, said Jagath Malwatte, a physician at a hospital near the scene. The Claymore mine, which can be detonated by remote control, exploded as the bus was traveling from the port town of Trincomalee to Colombo, said military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe. Samarasinghe blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the blast. "Surely it is their work, who else," Samarasinghe was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
