COLOMBO, April 25: A Tamil Tiger suicide bomber pretending to be pregnant blew herself up on Tuesday, seriously wounding Sri Lanka’s army chief and killing 10 others.
More than 30 people were also injured by the blast inside the high security zone of Colombo’s main military base.
The attack on Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka’s convoy was another blow to the island’s troubled peace process and a blood-soaked truce.
Gen Fonseka was riding in a silver Peugeot 406 which had three gold stars marked on a red background indicating it was his vehicle.
He was escorted by Land Rover Defender jeeps packed with armed soldiers and heavily armed motorcycle outriders, one of whom kicked the woman bomber as she tried to get near the convoy, a military official said.
“Five of his bodyguards who escorted the car on motorcycles were killed on the spot,” a police official said.
“The commander was critically wounded,” police chief Chandra Fernando said. “The attack was well within the army headquarters.”
Doctors at the National Hospital said 10 people were killed, but defence ministry spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said he could confirm only eight deaths.
A doctor who treated the army chief said he was in a ‘stable’ condition after surgery to remove shrapnel from his chest and abdomen.
Sri Lanka’s military blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the suicide bombing, but there was no immediate reaction from the group.
“A powerful blast activated by a woman Tamil Tiger suicide bomber claimed the lives of several army and civil personnel near the military hospital gate this afternoon,” the army said in a statement. It was the biggest suicide bombing blamed on the LTTE since they entered into a truce with the government in 2002.—AFP
