Four policemen were killed and 12 others wounded today when a woman being escorted to a police  station for questioning detonated explosives strapped to her  body in the high-security area near the Sri Lankan Prime Minister's official residence here.

The woman was being escorted to a police station right opposite the US and British diplomatic missions in the capital when she detonated explosives strapped to her body, police said.

"A total of four constables were killed and another 12 wounded when police tried to question her," a police officer told PTI.

"She had gone to the nearby ministry of Tamil Minister Douglas Devananda but was not allowed to go in," he said adding, "the security guards alerted the police who went there and brought her to the station for questioning. She refused to be searched and set off the attack."

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse was in his adjoining Temple Trees official residence when the attack took place and heard the powerful blast, officials said.

Suicide bombings are the trade mark of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The rebels on Monday marked the 17th anniversary of their first suicide bombing. The attack is the first of its kind since the Tamil rebels joined a truce in 2002.

The previous suicide bombing here was in October 2001 when a bomber detonated explosives when he was being questioned by police guarding then prime minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake in Colombo.  

External Link: Sri Lanka's Deadly Bombers

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