The suicide bomb blast which killed at least 8 members of the Civil Defence Force (CDF) and caused injuries to 17 others was an act of desperation by the Tamil Tigers, the military said on Sunday.
"They are now desperate because of what is happening", military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said referring to the on-going military operations in the north where the rebels have been losing large chunks of territory to the government troops.
The CDF office into which the suicide bomber had tried to enter around 8.40 a.m (0310 GMT) Sunday was housing around 70 members of the force at the time of explosion, its commander Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera said.
CDF premises located around a crowded Sunday weekly market and a prominent catholic church at Wattala, a north Colombo suburb.
Weerasekera said the suicide bomber was stopped at the gate where he had blown up himself. "If he was able to enter the premises surely there would have been more deaths", Weerasekera said.,
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