Tight security in Sri Lanka

Security has been tightened after the blast

Security has been tightened across Sri Lanka following Wednesday's bomb attack in the town of Batticaloa, which killed 23 people and injured 75.

A curfew has been declared in Batticaloa and all reports of the bombing have been censored.

The government said that it had censored the news in order to prevent a backlash from the majority Sinhala community.

The Tigers have launched an offensive in Jaffna

The main road in Batticaloa is shut and there is no public transport in the town.

The bomb exploded inside a high security zone, during a major Buddhist festival.

Nine of those killed were children who had gone to watch the festivities, and almost all the victims were from the minority Tamil community.

The attack has been blamed on the rebel Tamil Tigers who are fighting Sri Lankan forces in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

But the local MP from Batticaloa, Joseph Pararajasingham, has demanded an inquiry into reports that people were injured when security forces opened fire after the bomb blast.

Artillery attack

In the northern Jaffna peninsula, a few artillery shells are reported to have landed around the main airport in the north - for the second day running.

Reports say that three or four artillery shells landed inside the high security zone around the Pallali air base.

It is not known if any damage was caused, and analysts say they don't believe it heralds a major rebel assault on the base.

In the event of the fall of Jaffna, Lanka may even want the Indian air force...to airlift men and heavy weaponry

Indian Express

Pallali is the main government air base in the area, and is critical to the maintainance of supply lines to its troops.

The Tigers say they have overrun another military base in Kaithadi, 5km east of Jaffna town.

There has been no reaction from the government, and independent confirmation is not possible because of a ban on journalists visiting the war zone.

India visit

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Defence Chief General Rohan De Silva Daluvatte is reported to be in Indian on a secret visit.

Mr Daluvatte is said to have arrived in the southern city of Madras on Wednesday and to have gone on to Bangalore.

He is reported to have had discussions with senior Indian defence personnel.

Sri Lanka has approached several countries - including Israel - for military assistance, to stave off a Tamil Tiger assault on Jaffna town.

India has said it will not provide military support, but the Indian Express newspaper quoted defence experts as saying that logistical support may be a possibility.

The experts said that Colombo could seek "Indian air force protection to their supply channels in Jaffna where more than 35,000 soldiers are trapped.