'Suicide blast' in Lanka capital

The blast damaged a building in a Colombo commercial district

A suspected suicide bomber has killed himself and injured seven people as police were searching a house in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.

The police blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for the explosion in the northern Kotahena district of the capital.

They said the bomber might have been planning an attack elsewhere.

Clashes between the Sri Lankan military and Tamil Tigers rebels - based in the north of the island - have increased since a truce was cancelled last month.

Three of the people injured in the latest blast were police officers.

Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the bomber "detonated some explosives he was carrying when coming out of the house".

Earlier this week, the army said 14 Tamil Tiger rebels had been killed in fighting in the north of the island.

Last month, the government pulled out of a 2002 ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers, arguing the rebels had used it to re-group and re-arm.

Since then, violence has intensified on the frontlines that surround Tiger-held territory in the north.

The rebels have been leading a decades-old campaign for independence for minority Tamils in the majority Sinhalese nation of 19.5 million people.

Sri Lanka's army commander Lt-Gen Sarath Fonseka has said he aims to defeat the rebels by the end of 2008.