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Bomber targets Sri Lanka capital

Other News Materials 29 December 2008 02:24 (UTC +04:00)

A suicide bombing in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, has killed at least five members of the paramilitary civil defense force, military officials said, BBC reported.

The bomber hit a security checkpoint near a market in Wattala, a suburb of Colombo, the officials said.

No group has claimed to have carried out the attack, but it follows heavy fighting between Tamil Tiger rebels and the army in the north of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan navy says it has sunk a boat carrying supplies to the rebels.

The navy said the Tigers' boat was sunk off the north coast of Sri Lanka as it carried weapons and ammunition to the rebels. Four rebels on the boat were killed, the Defense Ministry said.

The suicide attack in Colombo took place hours later.

""A suicide cadre has gone inside a civil defense force post in Wattala and exploded himself,"" said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. ""Due to the explosion five civil defense force people were killed and four others injured.""

The army says it is nearing victory in the 25-year war with the separatist Tiger Tamils, as they close in on the key rebel-held town of Kilinochchi.

At least 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

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