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10 killed, 39 hurt in another Lankan blast

COLOMBO: At least 10 people were killed and 39 wounded when a bomb exploded on Thursday in a letter box at the main post office in the northern Sri Lankan town of Vavuniya, a military spokesman said.

"Seven of the wounded were soldiers, 20 civilians and the rest policemen. The bomb was placed in the letter box meant for the outgoing foreign mail," Brigadier Palitha Fernando told Reuters by phone.

Initial reports said at least five of the dead were security personnel.

The post office is very near the police station in the town.

Officials said the building did not suffer much damage. Initial reports had said the building was badly damaged.

Residents said the area around the post office was cordoned off by security forces and the atmosphere in the town was tense after the blast.

Shops were shut and few people were seen on the roads.

The frontier town of Vavuniya, 220 km (135 miles) northeast of the capital Colombo, is home to a large government military base.

Since 1983, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas have been fighting for a separate homeland in the country's north and east. More than 55,000 people have been killed in the conflict over the years.

The Sri Lankan capital has been the target of three suicide bomb explosions in the past month which killed more than 50 people and wounded nearly 200, including President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Those blasts were blamed on the LTTE and security in the capital and elsewhere has since been tightened.-Reuters