Colombo  – An explosion injured two people Monday in Sri Lanka's capital as government troops advanced on a Tamil rebel stronghold in the north after killing an estimated 25 guerillas and losing one soldier overnight, military officials said.

The explosion occurred in the busy Pettah area in central Colombo. Two people suffered minor injuries and six vehicles were damaged, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

The spokesman blamed the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), accusing them of trying to distract the attention of security forces as they were involved in military operations in the north, but he offered not evidence to suggest the separatist rebels were involved in the blast.

The military claimed to have killed 25 rebels and lost one soldier in fighting Sunday.

Troops were advancing on the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi town, 380 kilometres north of the capital, the military said. Most civilians from the town had left, but the hospital was still functioning.

On Thursday, the military said it was 4 kilometres from the town and was about to begin its assault.

The army vowed to regain control of rebel-held territory in the north before the end of the year after it recaptured all of eastern Sri Lanka last year from the LTTE, which is seeking an autonomous homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil ethnic minority. (dpa)