Roadside bombs kill 5 in northern Sri Lanka , military says

Associated Press, Sat January 6, 2007 03:00 EST . KRISHAN FRANCIS - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Suspected Tamil Tiger insurgents triggered three roadside bombs across Sri Lanka - 's volatile north on Saturday, killing four soldiers and a civilian, the military said, while police detained 10 people for questioning overnight after a bus bombing by suspected rebels killed six. Sri Lanka - has recently experienced a sharp rise in violence; more than 3,600 fighters and civilians were killed in renewed fighting in 2006, according to Defense Ministry.

A Norwegian-brokered 2002 cease-fire has all but disintegrated, although it still officially holds.

Before the cease-fire, the conflict between the Tigers, fighting for a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils and the majority Sinhalese-dominated government, claimed the lives of about 65,000 people and displaced another 1.6 million.