World

General killed in Sri Lanka bomb blast

A senior Sri Lankan army general has been killed in an explosion carried out by a suspected suicide bomber east of the capital.

Major-General Parami Kulatunga, the army's deputy chief of staff, was travelling to a military base when a motorcyclist approached his convoy and rammed into his vehicle around 20km from Colombo.

Two other soldiers and one civilian were also killed in the blast.

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The attack comes on the heels of a rash of ambushes and military clashes that have killed around 700 people, half of them civilians, so far this year.

Many fear the violence could reignite a two-decade civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels.

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