Suicide bombing kills 19 in Sri Lanka election rally

A suspected suicide bomber killed at least 19 people including a ruling party candidate at an election rally in eastern Sri Lanka on Monday.
Hours earlier a government deputy minister narrowly escaped injury in a roadside bombing that killed one person.

Officials blamed both attacks on Tamil Tiger rebels who are fighting for a separate state in the country`s north and east. Hospital officials said around 40 people were wounded, three of them critically, in the attack on the election rally in Muttur, 150 miles east of the capital Colombo.
The blast came at the end of the gathering in support of Mohommed Bayatullah, a Muslim candidate for the ruling People`s Alliance in the October 10 poll.

Bayatullah and two policemen were among the dead and seven police officers were hurt. Boats ferried casualties across the bay to the nearest hospital in the port of Trincomalee.
``...initial reports suggest it was a suicide bomb attack,`` military spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne told Reuters.

It was the second assassination attempt on Hisbullah in three days. At least 30 people have been killed in bomb attacks and clashes between rival political factions since election campaigning began last month.
Security has been tightened in the run-up to the vote amid fears that Tamil rebels will target rallies and try to assassinate top politicians.

Fighting between the rebels and government troops in the country`s northern Jaffna peninsula has also intensified in the last month and over 800 combatants have been killed as both sides battle for supremacy ahead of the polls.

Bureau Report