Pre-polls attacks on rise in Lanka's north

A Sri Lankan railway employee casts her postal ballot in Colombo yesterday ahead of November 17 presidential elections. Security personnel and public servants deployed to conduct elections have cast their votes in advance and send them by post to the election authorities.. PHOTO: AFP

Guerrillas -- who the army says are from the Tamil Tigers, who fought a two-decade war against the government that killed over 64,000 until a ceasefire in 2002 -- throw grenades at army bunkers before melting back into the crowds.

"We never catch them," a junior infantry officer told Reuters at the scene of one attack in the northern city of Jaffna.

"Thousands of civilians move past every day. It's difficult to identify who's responsible," he said, flecks of mud dotting the barrel of the AK-47 assault rifle resting on his bicycle's handlebars.

Nobody was hurt in this attack, but in the nearby military hospital, medics say increasing numbers of soldiers are arriving with shrapnel and gunshot wounds. Last week, at least seven were wounded and one civilian died.

Public servants and security personnel who will be deployed during next week's presidential ballot began casting their votes by post yesterday, officials said.

Those involved in conducting the November 17 vote can cast postal ballots on Monday and Tuesday, a spokesman for the Elections Commissioner's office said.

"We have 323,428 public servants, police and security forces personnel eligible to vote starting today," the spokesman said.

Some 13.3 million Sri Lankans over the age of 18 years are eligible to cast their votes to choose an executive president for a period of six years. There are 13 candidates in the running, but only two are regarded serious contenders.

With the Nov. 17 presidential election -- which got under way on Monday with postal voting by soldiers and government officials assigned away from home -- seen too close to call, election monitors fear any intimidation could sway the result.