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Amnesty condemns

bombing in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: The international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International (AI), on Saturday condemned the bombing of a post office in Sri Lanka and said Tamil Tiger rebels appeared to have violated humanitarian law.

The London-based AI said, Thursday's bomb attack at the main post office in Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka was widely believed to have been carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

At least 11 people were killed and another 73 wounded in the parcel bomb attack. Four of those killed were police and soldiers who had gone to the post office to send money home.

"By choosing a post office as its target, the LTTE appeared to have contravened the principle of distinction in international humanitarian law," the AI said.

"This principle obliges all parties to a conflict to take all measures to distinguish between civilian and military targets and direct their attacks only at military objectives, which should apply under all circumstances.

The LTTE is leading a campaign for independence in the island's northern and eastern regions. More than 55,000 people have been killed in fighting in the past two decades.ÑAFP