Colombo:
A suicide Tamil Tiger female bomber blew herself up killing 24 people, including several soldiers and wounding 45 civilians, at a checkpoint in the war-torn northern Sri Lanka on Monday.
The bomber, with explosives strapped on her body, blew herself up as she was to go through a checkpoint meant for Tamil civilians who have crossed over from rebel-held lines.
",The suicide cadre had apparently targeted the Security Forces but the explosion killed some civilians and a few soldiers,", the army said.
The dead and injured civilians were amongst those arriving in special 'safe zones' created by the Army for trapped Tamil civilians. According to a military spokesman, so far 17,000 out of an estimated 250,000 people have come over to 'safe zones'.
The suicide bomber blew herself up when she was being frisked along with people fleeing the war zones near Sundarapuram in Visuamadu at around 11.30 am, the army said.
This was the first major suicide attack in Sri Lanka in a month, though last week government forces claimed to have thwarted several such attempts on the battlefront near Mullaittivu.