Suicide bomber kills Cabinet minister, others, in Sri Lanka

Dilshika Jayamaha

Wednesday, June 7, 2000 | 8:19 a.m.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - A suicide bomber detonated an explosion in a capital suburb today, killing a Cabinet minister and 20 others, officials said.

The bomber's severed head and limbs were scattered around a traffic island, while police officers and army commandos gathered evidence and pushed the crowd back from the site.

Minister for Industrial Development C.V. Gooneratne was among the 21 people killed by the bomber, said the director of Kalubowila Hospital, Dr. W.G. Gunawardena. The minister's wife was one of seven people in serious condition among 60 injured people brought for treatment, he said.

Gonadeniye Sumanatne, a Buddhist priest at a nearby temple, said he had seen many bodies strewn across the road.

No cars were damaged in the area, indicating that the bomber had walked up to the minister. He had been surrounded by supporters and the deputy mayor of Ratmalana suburb, who was also killed, according to the hospital director.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

However, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who have fought for 17 years to create a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east, have a unit of suicide bombers known as the Black Tigers, who are known for targeting government officials.

Suicide bombers have assassinated several high-ranking politicians, including President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. The Tamil Tigers denied they killed Gandhi and have never commented on Premadasa's death.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga was blinded in the right eye when a woman suicide bomber tried to assassinate her in December.

Police imposed a curfew in the neighborhood where today's bomb exploded after reports spread of mobs attacking minority Tamils in revenge.

Many of the injured had extensive facial injuries and their clothes were stained with blood. "I was walking beside the minister's entourage when the explosion took place," said G.A. Yohanhe. "All I remember is falling on the ground."

Goonaretne, also a parliament member, was in his district collecting money for the war effort on the first-ever War Heroes Day, police said.

In an earlier speech, Kumaratunga urged Sri Lankans to honor the day set aside to recognize those who have died in battle.

"This is the most sacred moment for the nation," said Kumaratunga, who was blinded in her right eye in a suicide bombing in December. Gooneratne is the first minister of her government to be assassinated.

Fighting has intensified in the last two months as the rebels made a series of lightning advances in the north, overrunning several army camps to arrive at the doorstep of Jaffna city.

Red Cross workers are awaiting clearance from the government and rebels to visit civilians caught in the fighting, a spokesman for the relief agency on today. About 12,000 civilians are trapped in one of the four sectors of the northern Jaffna peninsula.

At least 500,000 civilians live in Jaffna peninsula. The city of Jaffna was the rebel capital from 1990-1995. The military took it back the peninsula in a series of operations.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting since 1983 to create a homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority, who make up 18 percent of the 18.6 million population. The war has left 62,000 people dead.