Blast wounds nine in Sri Lanka capital

An explosion in a commercial area of Sri Lanka's capital on Thursday wounded nine people, police said, adding that Tamil rebels were not responsible for the attack.

"We are ruling out terrorist involvement, the incident was probably due to a personnel vendetta," police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody told AFP.

The blast in the Pettah area of the city was believed to have been caused by a hand grenade or improvised explosive device.

It was the first blast in the centre of Colombo since government troops defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in May last year after decades of bloody civil war.

The Pettah area is known for clashes among rival business interests and underworld gangs.

© AFP