'Car bomb' hits Sri Lanka capital

[oberliner]

'Car bomb' hits Sri Lanka capital

At least two people, one of them a three-year-old boy, have been killed by a car bomb in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, police and witnesses say.

The bomb went off near a girls' school in a residential area of the city.

A Tamil government minister opposed to the Tamil Tigers told the BBC the target was one of his party colleagues.

The blast comes as the Tigers and military continue heavy fighting in the Trincomalee district in the north-east of the island.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5255728.stm?ls

[adriennui]

1. doesn't sri lanka have enough problems

what are the sides fighting over, is it a military dictatorship and who are the tamil tigers. i'm woefully uninformed. thanks in advance.

[oberliner]

2. Tamil Tigers

They believe that the Tamil regions of Sri Lanka should be independant from the rest of the country.

The Tamils are a minority group that live in the North and East of the country and have sought self-determination for some time.

The Sri Lankan government considers the Tamil Tigers to be a terrorist organization.