Suicide blast hit Sri Lanka, kills former general

Suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber kills more than 25 people in northern Sri Lanka

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Monday, 06, Oct 2008 01:24

A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber has killed more than 25 people in northern Sri Lanka, the country's military has said.

Up to 80 people were injured in the blast, which hit the offices of the opposition United National party in Anuradhapura.

A controversial general-turned politician, Janaka Perera, was among those killed in the explosion, as was his wife.

Mr Perera had been in charge of troops in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) stronghold of Jaffna in the mid 1990s.

"The LTTE set off a suicide explosion. There are large number of casualties," Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told al-Jazeera.

"He [Perera] was a retired general who had fought the LTTE, and because of that they may have targeted him."

The LTTE, which has been campaigning for an independent Tamil homeland in northern Sri Lanka for four decades, has so far not claimed responsibility for today's attack.