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The Sri Lankan army's third-highest-ranking officer, Maj. Gen. Parami Kulatunga, was killed June 26 when an apparent suicide bomber riding a motorcycle rammed the general's car near Colombo. Kulatunga's driver and three civilians also died as a result of the blast, which damaged a bus carrying morning commuters. No one has taken credit for the attack, but the separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is the prime suspect.
Although this was a sophisticated attack, most likely by a group that has perfected the art of suicide bombing, serious gaps in the general's security apparently made the bomber's job that much easier.
The attack occurred as Kulatunga was being driven to work from his home in Pannipitiya, about 10 miles south of the capital. According to Sri Lankan police, the bomber rode his motorcycle parallel to Kulatunga's car for about 500 yards. Then, when the general's car was forced to stop at a narrow bridge, the bomber rammed it. Some officials later said a riderless, bomb-rigged motorcycle was parked on the side of the road, but the pro-Tiger Web site, Tamilnet.com, also reported this was a suicide attack, without identifying perpetrators.
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