COLOMBO, Feb 29: At least one person was killed and seven others were injured in a suicide blast near the harbour on Friday morning.

Military spokesman Brig Udaya Nannayakkara confirmed that it was a suicide attack carried out during a search operation by police to identify rebels reported to have infiltrated into the city.

“Police were searching houses in the harbour area and knocked on a door. The door was opened by the bomber who exploded himself,” Mr Nannayakkara said, adding that police had found a suicide jacket, suicide belt, claymore mines and other weapons in the area. The bomber was killed.

According to hospital authorities, three policemen and four civilians, were injured.

The blast came amid reports that the army had taken control of the sluice gates controlling water supplies in the northwestern Mannar area held by the rebels.

About 30 Tamil separatists were killed or wounded during a daylong battle, the defence ministry said on its website.

Meanwhile, the separatists have alleged that the military had set off two roadside bombs inside the rebel-held northern territory killing eight civilians. The claim was denied by a military spokesman.