Military Plane Crash Kills 38 in Sri Lanka
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A military plane crashed and exploded after taking off from an airstrip in rebel-held territory Friday, killing all 38 aboard.
The left engine of the twin-engine propeller aircraft had reportedly caught fire. Military officials said they suspected a technical fault but did not rule out an attack by rebels fighting for a Tamil homeland.
The plane was flying from a military base in the Jaffna district to the capital, Colombo, 190 miles to the south, when it crashed in an area controlled by the army.
Nineteen soldiers also died Friday in a battle with Tamil rebels avenging an attack a day earlier that killed at least 18 rebels. Friday’s fighting also left five guerrillas dead.
In Colombo, a Tamil politician and supporter of the peace process was shot to death by a suspected rebel supporter, police said.
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