Suicide bombing in Sri Lanka kills minister and ten others
The government has blamed the attack on the Tamil Tigers rebel group
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Sunday, 06, Apr 2008 10:54
At least 11 people, including a government minister, have been killed and many others injured after a suicide bomber targeted a marathon in Sri Lanka.
An explosion took place just as highways minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle was flagging off the race, which was scheduled to start in the district of Grampaha.
The island nation's government has blamed the attack on the Tamil Tigers, who have been waging a violent campaign for a separate state for the country's minority Tamils for the last 25 years.
Mr Fernandopulle is the second government minister to be killed in a bomb attack this year after the country's minister for nation building, D M Dassanayake, died in an attack in January after a ceasefire between the government and the rebel group fell through.
Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa has condemned the killing and, in a statement cited by the Reuters news agency, said: "The assassination of such a committed democrat once again shows the total contempt of the LTTE to the democratic process, and its unquestioned commitment to violence and terror to achieve it narrow and limited objectives, that are far removed from the interests of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.
"While calling on the people to be calm and collected in the face of such extreme provocation by the forces of terror, I wish to reiterate that this dastardly act will not weaken our resolve to eradicate terrorism from our midst," he added.
The government recently claimed to have made large gains in offensives against the separatist group last month. Over 70,000 people have lost their lives in the civil war which has lasted over two decades.