A suicide bomber targeted a convoy of vehicles carrying Sri Lanka's defense secretary and other security officials in the capital Friday, killing himself, two soldiers and wounding 14 others, the military said. Soon after the blast, police and other security men opened fire. The body of an unidentified man lay at the scene with gunshot wounds. A car caught fire as a result of the blast, an AP photographer at the scene said. The government blamed the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels for the attack which appeared to target the island's defense secretary, who is also the president's brother, and who escaped unhurt. «Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse escaped unharmed when an LTTE suicide killer, targeted the convoy of vehicles in which he was traveling,» a government statement said, using the acronym for the rebels' official name, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said the bomber triggered the explosives as the five-car convoy of vehicles was passing. Samarasinghe confirmed that Rajapakse, who is the younger brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, was in one of the cars. «He is safe, no harm has come to him,» Samarasinghe said. Minutes after the blast, the government released photographs of the president hugging his brother, who in another photo showed photographers the blood spatters on his white shirt. Military said two soldiers died while nine others and five civilians were hospitalized with varying degree of injuries.
