Many killed in Sri Lanka bombing

At least 14 people have been killed and scores injured in a suicide bomb attack near a mosque in southern Sri Lanka, authorities say. Tuesday's attack came at the end of a ceremony celebrating an Islamic holiday in Akuressa in the Matara district, about 160km south of Colombo, the military said. "Six ministers were there and terrorists used this opportunity to target us. Only one minister, Mahinda Wijesekara, got injured," AHM Fowzie, Sri Lanka's oil resources minister, told the Reuters news agency. "Seven bodies have been found at the spot." Wijesekara is Sri Lanka's minister for post and telecommunications. The AFP news agency said 60 people were wounded in the attack. Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, Sri Lanka's defence spokesman, blamed it on the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). "Definitely, it is LTTE," he said. The LTTE has in the past launched attacks on senior government officials. It has been blamed by the Sri Lankan government for hundreds of suicide attacks.