Sri Lankan soldiers escape Tamil rebels' bomb attack in north, says military

A group of 15 Sri Lankan soldiers on a route clearing patrol in a northern town escaped a Tamil Tiger rebels' bomb attack Friday, when the roadside bomb exploded prematurely, the military said. One soldier was, however, sustained minor injuries in the attack near the northern garrison town of Vavuniya, military spokesman, Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said.

``The others escaped the attack by the LTTE,'' Samarasinghe said, blaming the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The bomb exploded prematurely, he said.

The failed attack came amid a surge in violence between the insurgents and the government, threatening a four-year-old cease-fire and raising the prospect of all-out civil war.