Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers said on Thursday an Army special forces unit blew up a rebel-backed member of parliament in their northern stronghold with a roadside bomb, and a party colleague confirmed his death.
It was the latest in a string of attacks inside rebel territory using Claymore mines as roadside bombs that the rebels have blamed on government troops, who are using the Tigers' own deadly methods against them as a 25-year civil war escalates.
K. Sivanesan, an MP with the rebel-backed Tamil National Alliance (TNA), was driving near his home in Mankulam in the Tigers' de facto state in the far north of the island when the blast occurred, killing him and his driver, his party said.
"It was an Army deep penetration unit," rebel military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan said by telephone. "His vehicle was precisely targeted, because there were several vehicles travelling along this road. It's another example of how the regime in Colombo acts."
The military denied any hand in the attack. "We don't know what exactly happened because it has occurred in an uncontrolled area," said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. "There are no deep penetration units operating in that area. We totally deny it."
Sivanesan had attended a meeting in parliament on Wednesday. "He left the parliament quarters after attending the parliament sessions yesterday," said fellow MP Suresh Premachandran. "Most probably in those areas the Army is deploying deep penetration units," he added. "This fellow is a victim of that."