Lankan Army commander injured in suicide attack

COLOMBO: A female suicide cadre of LTTE blew herself up inside the tightly-guarded Sri Lankan Army headquarters premises on Tuesday afternoon, critically injuring Army Commander Lt-Gen Sarath Foneseka, official sources said.

"The Army commander is seriously wounded when a LTTE female suicide bomber jumped onto his vehicle inside the army headquarters," media coordinator of President's office, Chandrapala Liyanage said.

"Few other military officers accompanying the Army Commander were also wounded in the suicide attack," he added.

He said the suspected LTTE female suicide cadre had apparently entered the army headquarters premises pretending to be a visitor to the military hospital, located inside the premises of the headquarters, during the visiting hours for the attack.

"Army Commander is now being treated at the ICU of the Colombo national hospital," Liyanage said.

Tuesday's attack on the Army Commander has caused serious strain in the already fragile four-year-long ceasefire agreement between the Lanka government and the Tamil Tiger rebels.

This is the second suicide bomb attack in Colombo after the ceasefire was signed between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tiger rebels.