COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - A bomb being transported by a suicide bomber on a bicycle exploded prematurely Thursday, killing four people and injuring 13 others in Sri Lanka's volatile north, the military said.
The explosion on the Jaffna peninsula killed the suicide bomber and three civilians, said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara. The 13 wounded people were all civilians, he said.
"It was a premature explosion ... there was no target in the area," said Nanayakkara, who blamed separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
The rebels have frequently deployed suicide bombers against military targets and political opponents.
The blast came a day after government troops overran at least 25 rebel bunkers in the northern front lines that separate the government-controlled Jaffna region and the rebels' de facto state in the north. Soldiers attacked the rebels with tanks, mortars and artillery, killing 10 guerrillas, according to the military.
There was no immediate comment from the rebels, who have been fighting since 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils.
The fighting has killed more than 70,000 people, including more than 700 since the government officially quit a cease-fire earlier this month, according to the military.
Tamils, who have suffered decades of discrimination by majority Sinhalese-controlled governments, consider Jaffna their cultural heartland.
The military has controlled the region since 1995, but the rebels operate underground and carry out frequent attacks. Jaffna is cut off from the rest of Sri Lanka by rebel-held territory.
Government troops have opened up four fronts around the Tigers' de facto state, while the air force has targeted the group's leadership.
