( dpa ) - A cabinet minister belonging to the ruling party in Sri Lanka and five others were injured in a claymore mine attack in the outskirts of the capital on Tuesday morning, police said.
Minister of Nation Building DM Dassanayaka was on his way to parliament when he was caught in the claymore mine blast at Ja-Ela, 20 kilometres north of the capital.
The location of the blast is on the way to the country's only international air port at Katunayaka, but there was no harm to any passengers heading to the airport.
His security personnel and civilians were among the others injured in the blast, police said.
Police blamed the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the attack.
The attack came a week after an opposition parliamentarian was gunned down inside a Hindu temple in the capital.
The government has vowed to crush the Tamil rebels within this year.