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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Explosion hits house in Sri Lanka | Explosion hits house in Sri Lanka |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| An explosion has gone off at a house in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, as police were about to search it. | An explosion has gone off at a house in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, as police were about to search it. |
| Police say a suicide bomber came out of the house in the Kotahena district of the city, as they were trying to gain entry, and set off the blast. | Police say a suicide bomber came out of the house in the Kotahena district of the city, as they were trying to gain entry, and set off the blast. |
| At least seven people were taken to hospital, including three police officers, but it is not yet clear whether there were any fatalities. | At least seven people were taken to hospital, including three police officers, but it is not yet clear whether there were any fatalities. |
| Police have blamed separatist Tamil Tiger rebels for the explosion. | Police have blamed separatist Tamil Tiger rebels for the explosion. |
| They said the bomber might have been preparing to carry out an attack elsewhere. | They said the bomber might have been preparing to carry out an attack elsewhere. |
| Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the man "detonated some explosives he was carrying when coming out of the house". | |
| Friday's incident comes days after the army said 14 Tamil Tiger rebels had been killed in fresh fighting in the north of the island. | |
| Last month, the government pulled out of a 2002 ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers, arguing the rebels had used it to re-group and re-arm. | |
| Since then, fighting has intensified on the frontlines that surround Tiger-held territory in the north. | |
| The army says two soldiers and 14 rebels have been killed since Monday. | |
| There was no comment from the rebels, who are leading a decades-old campaign for independence for minority Tamils in the majority Sinhalese nation of 19.5 million people. | |
| Sri Lanka's army commander Lt-Gen Sarath Fonseka has said that he aims to defeat the rebels by the end of 2008. |