COLOMBO, May 9: A bomb went off inside a cafe in eastern Sri Lanka killing at least 11 people on Friday, the military said, a day before the first local elections in the region in two decades.

The military blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the blast which comes amid intensified fighting between the rebels and soldiers along the northern frontlines. At least 29 people were wounded in the blast.

“There has been an explosion in Ampara town a little while ago,” said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. “11 civilians were killed and 29 injured. It is definitely by the LTTE.”

Security had been tightened for Saturday’s polls in the districts of Trincomalee, Ampara and Batticaloa which are being held after the military pushed out the rebels in 2007 from vast swathes of territory they had held for years. —Reuters