Colombo, Oct 2 : At least 13 civilians, including 12 children, were injured when a van exploded in Sri Lanka''s central district of Kurunegala Friday morning.

China''s official Xinhua news agency quoted security sources as saying that the bomb explosion happened around 7 a. m. local time at Udawalpola, about 100 km northeast of Colombo.

Twelve school children and the van driver were injured.

Kurunegala police said the driver had just started the vehicle when the bomb went off inside the garage of a local resident. They said a personal dispute might be behind the explosion.

This was the first major explosion after the government troops defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in May and further investigations are underway, Malaysia''s Bernama news agency reported. (ANI)