A suspected rebel suicide bomber yesterday blew himself up inside a crowded opposition party office in northern Sri Lanka, killing a former army general and 26 others.

Retired Major General Janaka Perera and his wife were among the 27 dead and at least 80 more were wounded in the bomb attack at the United National Party office in Anuradhapura town, military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said.

The blast came as government troops and Tamil Tiger fighters battled for control of the rebels' administrative capital in the northern town of Kilinochchi.