Sri Lanka suicide blast toll 11

COLOMBO:  A woman soldier has died of her injuries, bringing to 11 the number of people killed in a suicide bomb attack against Sri Lanka's army chief, a hospital spokeswoman said on Saturday.

The soldier died at the national hospital in Colombo on Friday, spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said.

The dead include 10 victims as well as the bomber. Soysa said five wounded, including army chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, were still in intensive care following Tuesday's attack. 

Most of the victims were security personnel killed when the woman, who had said she was pregnant, gained entry to the army hospital within the tightly-guarded military headquarters in Colombo.   

She managed to detonate her bomb despite Fonseka's car being escorted by four motorcycle outriders and two vehicles packed with armed guards.   

The suicide bomber was blown to pieces and only her left leg below the knee was left intact. Investigators found her head hanging by her hair in a tree.

The government said the bombing was the work of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a group known for its trademark suicide bombings.   The attack was the most serious incident blamed on the rebels since they entered into a truce with the government in 2002.