This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/7270310.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 2 | Version 3 |
---|---|
'Suicide blast' in Lanka capital | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
A suspected suicide bomber has killed himself and injured seven people as police were searching a house in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. | |
The police blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for the explosion in the northern Kotahena district of the capital. | |
They said the bomber might have been planning an attack elsewhere. | |
Clashes between the Sri Lankan military and Tamil Tigers rebels - based in the north of the island - have increased since a truce was cancelled last month. | |
Three of the people injured in the latest blast were police officers. | |
Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the bomber "detonated some explosives he was carrying when coming out of the house". | |
Earlier this week, the army said 14 Tamil Tiger rebels had been killed in 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. | 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, violence has intensified on the frontlines that surround Tiger-held territory in the north. | |
The rebels have been 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 he aims to defeat the rebels by the end of 2008. | |