Colombo  - A student belonging to the majority Sinhala community was shot dead at an university in predominantly Tamil minority eastern Sri Lanka by unidentified persons on Thursday night, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

The student was identified as a 27-year-old first year business management student attached to the Vandaramullai University in Batticaloa, 240 kilometres east of the capital Colombo.

The spokesman said it was not clear as to who was responsible for the shooting or the motive for the killing.

Colombo - The army has been deployed in two Sri Lankan provinces where elections are scheduled Saturday after a spate of pre-poll violence, including shootings and the burnings of vehicles and buildings.

The army has been sent to North-Central province, 180 kilometres north-east of Colombo, and Sabaragamuwa province, 100 kilometres south-east of the capital, after a request from the commissioner of elections, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said Thursday.

Colombo – Air force fighter jets on Thursday bombed Tamil rebel targets in northern Sri Lanka as troops consolidated positions they captured overnight, killing at least seven guerillas, a military spokesman said.

The military said the air force bombed what they identified as resistance points located at Thunukkai in Mullaitivu, 380 kilometres north of Colombo.

The air raids were carried out in support of ground troops engaged in fighting to take control of a main land route.

The military said the rebel targets were hit accurately, but no details of the damage were reported.

On Wednesday, troops captured the Kalvilan area, 370 kilometres north of the capital, and were consolidating positions in the recaptured areas.

Colombo - A chief administrative officer in north-eastern Sri Lanka was injured along with 16 others during a midnight shell attack on their residences, officials said Friday.

Tamil rebels blamed the military for the shell attacks in Mullaitivu, 390 kilometres north-east of the capital Colombo, but the army denied the claim.

District chief Emelda Sukumar, the chief medical officer's wife and more than a dozen others were injured in the attack near the city hospital, officials in the area said.

Colombo  - Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom Thursday ratified a new constitution that calls for the sharing of power by the chief executive and parliament while introducing new reforms, officials of the Maldives High Commission said in Colombo.

President Gayoom addressed the nation before he ratified the new constitution. The signing was followed by a seven-gun salute, courtesy of the Maldives National Defence Force, the officials said.

A special short prayer was recited by the President of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Mohamed Rasheed Ibrahim.