Sri Lanka villagers in panic after church attack kills 5

When word spread on Sunday morning that a military patrol was coming, people in the tiny, remote northwestern fishing village of Pesalai panicked. Men, women and children ran from their homes to Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church.

The navy said the troops were there to guard against rebel infiltration. ‘‘We all know that the Tamil rebels often infiltrate among civilians, especially fishermen, and we had to be there to safeguard against that,’’ said Cmdr DKP Dassanayake, a navy spokesman.

Survivors and witnesses of Saturday’s attack say Sri Lankan forces stormed the church where hundreds of Tamils were sheltering, indiscriminately shooting inside, and then fired wildly through the village. Five villagers were killed. At the village shoreline, nearly 40 fishing boats were burned and reduced to ashes in attacks fishermen blamed on rampaging navy sailors.

The government on Sunday again denied involvement in the church attack on the church. A statement issued by the Defence Ministry called the report ‘‘yet another attempt by pro (Tiger) media to discredit the government and tarnish the image of the Security Forces’’.

Separately on Sunday, a powerful mine blast left at least three policemen dead in northern Sri Lanka, police said. A sergeant and two constables died when a mine exploded near their vehicle in Vavuniya district, said Deputy Inspector General of Police Gamini Silva. Silva blamed the attack on the Tigers.

–KRISHAN FRANCIS