COLOMBO, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Nine people including seven police officers were killed and over 80 people were injured when a suicide bomber of Tamil Tiger rebels attacked a bus in Sri Lankan capital Colombo around 12 noon time (0630 GMT) on Friday, defense officials said.

    Military Spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said a motorcycle-riding suicide bomber of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rammed into a bus carrying police personnel at the Fort area and caused the explosion.

    Nanayakkara said among the killed were seven police officers and two civilians, adding that the injured included Army soldiers, police personnel and civilians.

    The explosion came as the island was preparing to celebrate the traditional Buddhist festival Vesak day next week.

    Claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese government, the LTTE has been fighting the government since the mid-1980s to establish an independent homeland for Tamil minorities, resulting in the death of more than 70,000 people in the island.

    Government troops are currently battling the LTTE in the north with the aim of crushing the group before the end of 2008.