Tamil Tiger rebels have been blamed for the attack

Officials in Sri Lanka say at least two people, including a policeman, have been killed in a bomb attack in the eastern town of Batticaloa.

A police spokesman told the BBC that the bomb was planted on a bicycle parked close to the main police station in the town centre.

Six civilians, including three school children, were among the injured.

The authorities blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for the incident. There has been no reaction from the rebels.

The rebels have recently suffered a series of military defeats at the hands of government troops.

Boat attack

Wednesday morning's blast killed a policeman and a civilian, the army said. It also injured one police officer, four school children and six others, according to military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara.

The attack came a day after the Sri Lankan navy said it had destroyed four Tamil Tiger military boats in a sea battle off the country's north-eastern coast.

A pro-rebel website said the Tigers attacked a Sri Lankan convoy and destroyed a navy attack craft.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for a separate homeland for 25 years. At least 70,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.

The rebels had established a de facto state squeezed between government-controlled Jaffna in the north and the rest of the country.

But the latest military offensive has forced the rebels to give up much of their territory.





