Colombo, Oct 12: Sri Lankan police arrested 12 ethnic Tamil civilians when they clashed with army soldiers after a military vehicle was involved in a road accident in the northern Sri Lankan town of Jaffna today, a news report said. Tamilnet web site which reports on Tamil affairs from the island's northeast said one person was injured when his scooter taxi collided with a military truck.
Hundreds of people gathered after the accident demanding action against speeding army vehicles and some attacked the soldiers with stones, the web site said. That led to the arrest of 12 Tamils, it said.
Two men were killed last week in Jaffna when their motor cycle was hit by a military truck. The accident sparked violent protests injuring 10 people.
Jaffna, 300 km north of the capital Colombo, is home to most of the island's 3.2 million Tamils and the scene of a two-decade civil war between government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Bureau Report