March 17, 1999
Web posted at: 1:06 a.m. EST (0606 GMT)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- A policeman and five paramilitary soldiers were killed when Tamil Tiger rebels detonated a claymore mine in northern Sri Lanka on Wednesday, military officials said.

They said a policeman and a paramilitary soldier were also wounded in the attack at Dickwewa village in the northern Vavuniya district.

The policemen were on a road-clearing patrol when the explosion occurred some 220 km (137 miles) northeast of the capital Colombo.

There was no immediate comment on the incident from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Independent confirmation of events is not possible because journalists are not allowed in the war zone except when taken on a tour conducted by the military.

Meanwhile, at least 15 Tamil Tiger rebel suspects have been detained by police following a suicide bomb attack that killed four in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.

Police said the suspects were taken in for questioning in connection to Tuesday's attack and declined to give further details.

The woman bomber jumped in front of a car carrying Chief Inspector Mohammed Nilabdeen of the Mount Lavinia police terrorist investigation unit, police said.

Nilabdeen was wounded and hospitalized but doctors said he was out of danger.

The attack took place when Nilabdeen was driving home from the Mount Lavinia police station after receiving a phone call saying that his wife was ill, police said.

Beside the bomber, the dead included a man who swallowed a cyanide capsule when apprehended at the blast site, police said.

W.P. Dayaratne, superintendent of police, said most of those wounded were traveling in a bus that was close to the police car. Several vehicles were damaged by the explosion.

Police officials say the death toll from the explosion, which occurred near the Mount Lavinia police station, could rise as two of the wounded were critical in hospital.

The blast went off around 5:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) and comes ahead of a meeting on Thursday of foreign ministers of seven South Asian nations in the central hill town of Nuwara Eliya.

Tuesday's blast followed a spate of bombings in Colombo last week in which one person was killed and 11 injured in three separate late-night explosions.

The government blamed last week's attacks on Tamil Tiger rebels, saying the guerrillas were trying to destabilize the city.

Security has been tightened in Colombo and up to 20 suspects have been detained following last week's trouble.

In February last year a suicide bomber blew herself up at a military checkpoint in Colombo hours after Britain's Prince Charles left the island after attending independence anniversary celebrations. Nine people were killed.

A month later in March a bus exploded at a busy crossing during the afternoon rush hour, killing nearly 40 people.

Since then there have been several small blasts in Colombo, but Tuesday's was the first triggered by a suicide bomber since last year, police said.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east since 1983. Independent reports put the figure of those killed in the war at nearly 55,000.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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