A suicide bomb blast in Anuradhapura kills at least 27 people, including Major General Janaka Perera, a former military commander in the 1990s. More than 80 others were injured in the attack inside a United National Party office, officials said. The military blamed the attack on the Tamil Tigers.
Major General Perera is credited with some of the army’s biggest victories over the Tigers, including a 1996 battle in which allegedly 200 LTTE cadres were killed with the loss of just one soldier. The Tamil community accused him of being responsible for hundreds of deaths and the torture of Tamils in the region during the period. Amnesty International raised similar concerns.
Sources
Suicide blast hits Sri Lanka town, BBC, 6 October 2008; Sri Lanka suicide blast kills 27 including former military chief, Times, 6 October 2008.
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