COLOMBO, Nov 17: Gunmen shot dead on Saturday a Sri Lankan opposition candidate campaigning for the country’s parliamentary elections next month, police said.

Police said Thambiraja Jeyakumar, a United National Party candidate, was shot dead while driving to a campaign event in eastern Batticaloa District.

“He was shot by bystanders wearing civilian clothes,” a Batticaloa police official said, adding that no one else was hurt.

Jeyakumar was the first candidate killed during this campaign in a country where violence is common during elections. Several candidates were among the 70 people killed during a parliamentary election last year. Dozens of politicians have been killed in recent years, mostly in attacks blamed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

A rebel suicide bomber blew himself up in the capital Colombo just after the campaign kicked off last month. Five people died in the attack which the government said was intended for the prime minister.—Reuters