(Xinhua) -- Two civilians were killed and nine others injured in a hand grenade explosion in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo Saturday night, defense officials said. Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the hand grenade explosion occurred around 9 p.m. (1530 GMT) in a densely populated area along the major Galle road. Nanayakkara said 11 civilians were injured in the explosion and two of them succumbed to their injures later in the hospital. The spokesman said the government can not decide who is behind the attack at the moment, although the government usually attributes such kind of attack to the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The explosion came as the Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that at least 26 LTTE rebels were killed and 23 wounded during the fighting in the northern battle fronts on Friday. The ministry said in a statement that four soldiers were also killed and 13 others wounded on Friday in the battles. Having taken over control of the Eastern Province last July, Sri Lanka's security forces are currently battle LTTE rebels in the north with the aim of crushing them before the end of 2008.