Grenades kill three, injure 37 in Sri Lanka

Two hand grenades hurled in a rare clash between Christians and Hindus killed at least three people and injured 37 others in a part of eastern Sri Lanka where international aid workers are helping tsunami victims, police said.

No aid workers were reportedly injured or near the explosions at the time, officials said.

Two suspected assailants were arrested soon after the attack in a Tamil rebel-controlled area late Saturday, said V.H. Anil, a policeman in the eastern town of Valaichchenai.

He said Christians were angry that Hindus had demolished a church and may have carried out the attack in retaliation.

Clashes between Hindus and Christians are rare since both groups believe they are oppressed by the country’s Buddhist-Sinhalese majority government.