Explosion kills 10, injures over 30 including minister in S Sri Lanka

2009-03-10 15:10:26  

    COLOMBO, March 10 (Xinhua) --

Ten people were killed while at least 35 others including a government minister were injured Tuesday morning in a suicide explosion blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels in southern Sri Lanka, defense officials said.

    Officials from the Defense Ministry said an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eealm) suicide bomber attacked the Jumma mosque at Godapitiya, in Akurassa, in the Matara district at around 10:30 a.m. local time (0500 GMT).

    The suicide bomber targeted the Islam devotees attending the national Milad-Un-Nabi celebration, held at the mosque which was attended by several ministers and a large number of civilians, the military said.

    The Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed is celebrated as a national festival in Sri Lanka.

    Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said 10 civilians and the suicide bomber were killed while 35 others including Post and Telecommunication Minister Mahinda Wijesekara were injured in the explosion in Matara, about 160 km south of the capital Colombo.

    Wijesekara suffered head injuries and was initially treated in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the Matara hospital. Then he was air lifted to the capital Colombo.

     "The minister was sent to Colombo for treatment. We have 38 people receiving injuries," said Aruna Jayasekera, the director of the Matara hospital.

    "There were six ministers present, only one of them were injured," Petroleum Minister A. H. M. Fowzie told reporters.

    "A special medical team has been sent by air to Matara to attend to urgent medical needs," Hector Weerasinghe, the director of the National Hospital said in Colombo. 

    The Sri Lankan government has strongly condemned the attack, saying it will only strengthen the government's resolve to end terrorism in the country.    

    "The government condemns in the strongest possible terms the LTTE suicide bomb attack. The attack reaffirms the fact that the LTTE is not only a ruthless terrorist outfit but also one which has no regard or respect for religion," said the government in a statement.

    The statement said the attack, deliberately targeting the Muslim Community, underscores the hatred the LTTE, has towards the Muslim population of Sri Lanka.

    "This reminds us of the LTTE's massacre of more than 200 Muslims at worship in three mosques at Kaththankudy and Eravur in the east, in August 1990," the statement added.

    The government said it remains unwaveringly committed to rid the country of the terrorist menace and bring about peace.

    "This attack will only serve to strengthen the resolve of the government and the security forces in this regard," said the statement.

    The explosion came as the government says its military offensive against the LTTE is at final stage as the rebel organization has been cornered in a small area of just about 40 sqkm in the northern Mullaittivu district.

    Government officials said the LTTE made the attack to divert the attention of the security forces who are on the verge of totally defeating the LTTE.

    The troops have recaptured most of the LTTE's 15,000 sq km territories in successive military victories since 2006.

    Claiming discrimination at the hands of Sinhalese majority governments, the LTTE began its armed struggle in the 1980s to setup an independent Tamil homeland in the north and east, resulting in the killing of more than 70,000 people.   

Editor: Wang Hongjiang