A suicide bomber attacked the opening ceremony of a marathon outside Sri Lanka's capital Sunday, killing a government minister and 11 other people, authorities said.

Officials blamed the bombing, the second this year resulting in the death of a government minister, on Tamil Tiger rebels.

Minister of Highways and Road Development Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, who was opening the race 12 miles outside Colombo, was among those killed by the suicide bomber, government spokesman Anusha Paltipa said.

Sri Lanka's Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site that 11 other people died and more than 90 were wounded.

Fighting in Sri Lanka has increased in recent months amid government promises to capture the rebels' de facto state in the north and crush the group by the end of the year.

PHOTO CAPTION

Sri Lankan military personnel examine bodies of victims after a bomb explosion in Gampaha on April 6, 2008.

AP