Sri Lanka-Blast
At least eight persons were killed in a bomb blast in eastern Sri Lankan city Friday evening.

A bomb blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels tore through a cafe Friday evening in eastern Sri Lanka, killing 8 people casting a cloud over crucial provincial elections scheduled for Saturday, said media reports received here.

The elections were meant to be a final step in restoring normalcy to the Eastern Province, which the government freed from 13 years of Tamil Tiger rule last year.

To ensure a smooth poll, the government sent an unprecedented 28,000 police officers and an extra 4,000 soldiers to back up the thousands of troops already in the province, report said quoting Sri Lankan authorities.

Despite the enormous police and military presence, the rebels blew up a small restaurant in Ampara, 130 miles (220 kilometers) east of Colombo, one of the largest towns in the Eastern Province, the military said.

Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said the blast, which killed 8 people and wounded 29 others, was clearly the work of the rebels, known formally as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.