Bombs injure 15 in Sri Lanka

Two bombs have exploded in the offices of a Tamil pro-government party in eastern Sri Lanka, injuring at least 15 people.

Witnesses said the suspected parcel bombs went off one after the other in the buildings of the Eelam People's Democratic Party in the town of Batticaloa, 300 kilometres (187 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.

No group has said it carried out the explosions.

The Eelam People's Democratic Party is a former rebel group that has now sided with the government.

It signed a peace accord and gave up arms in 1987 along with about a dozen Tamil separatist groups

Those wounded were waiting for the party's local head to arrive when the blasts occurred.

"It could be that the bombs were not very powerful," said Defence Ministry spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne in Colombo.