Sri Lankan military kills suspected suicide bomber

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan military on Friday shot dead a suspected suicide bomber in the northern district of Jaffna as heavy fighting raged in rebel stronghold of Vavuniya, the defence ministry said.

The suspect Tiger rebel tried to trigger a blast when army personnel attempted to body search him, the military said.

"The suspect was stopped by the army personnel at a snap road block established at a location in close proximity to the Savalkattu junction," the ministry said.

"When asked to prove his identity the suspect was unable to submit his national Identity Card. As the suspect was taken for a body search he has attempted to trigger off the explosive device attached to his body," it said.

"The vigilant soldiers who detected suspect's attempt shot and killed the bomber, saving number of lives," the ministry said.

It was not clear why the bomber did not detonate the explosives before the troops could search him. Investigations were underway, the ministry said.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said the man who was shot dead by troops was a civilian and accused the military of blocking people from accessing the body of the victim for "a long time."

Meanwhile, the LTTE claimed that they defeated an attempt by troops to break into the territory held by them in the Vavuniya sector and wounded at least 15 soldiers.

Unconfirmed reports said four soldiers killed in the operation.

Military sources said the wounded soldiers were being air lifted to a hospital in the Anuradhuapura town in the north-central part of the island.