COLOMBO, Dec. 29 -- A truck carrying explosives has exploded prematurely near Sri Lanka's southern Magalla naval base, narrowly missing Navy chief Cecil Tissera and killing three rebels. Police officials said today that separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants were possibly trying to kill Tissera, who was at the naval base when the truck exploded just 550 yards (500 meters) from the naval base.
Police said the truck stopped about 100 yards (90 meters) from a police check post and one of the occupants crawled under it, seemingly to set right a mechanical fault. He was still there when the truck exploded. His body was found charred, while limbs belonging to two different persons were found up to 40 meters from the site of the blast. A senior police officer said that this kind of incident is usually the work of the LTTE. The police officer said the vehicle bomb seemed to have gone off prematurely and was possibly targeted at the Navy commander. Admiral Tissera was attending a musical show for the benefit of the families of dead soldiers. Police officials say the LTTE could have been aiming to get him either at the show or at the base. The LTTE rebels have been fighting a 13-year-old war to establish an independent homeland for island nation's 17 percent Tamil ethnic minority. More than 65,000 people have died in the war. LTTE is one of the 30 organizations declared terrorist outfits by the United States. ---
Copyright 1997 by United Press International. All rights reserved. ---
