Suicide bomber tries to assassinate Sri Lanka minister
A female suicide bomber disguised as an office worker blew herself up in the heart of Colombo today, killing one person in an apparent attempt to assassinate a Sri Lankan government minister, the military said.
The attack took place outside the office of Douglas Devananda, the minister of social services and the leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party, an ethnic Tamil party seen as a rival to the Tamil Tigers rebel group, the military said.
Devananda, the repeated target of assassination attempts, was not injured in the attack, the military said.
The blast killed one of his staff members and critically injured another, said Dr Hector Weerasinghe, the medical director of Colombo National Hospital.
A third person was lightly injured, he said.
The Tamil Tiger bomber, a handicapped woman, mingled with other office workers during the morning rush hour before detonating her explosives at 8.05am, the military said.
The rebel group, listed as a terror organisation by the United States and the European Union, has carried out more than 240 suicide bombings.
