Sri Lanka blast kills 2 soldiers, six civilians

COLOMBO, April 12 (Reuters) - Six civilians were killed in an explosion in the northeastern Sri Lankan port of Trincomalee on Wednesday, the army said, while police said two soldiers had also died.

An army spokesman said that he only knew of one military death, and that security forces had no idea who was behind the explosion, which came hours after a suspected Tamil Tiger rebel attack killed two policemen in the same town.

Witnesses said some shops were burning and the army said there were reports of clashes between different groups in the town, where Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims live.