Sri Lankan minister D.M. Dasanayaka has become the second prominent politician to be killed this year. Suspected Tamil rebels exploded a roadside bomb in a Colombo suburb on Tuesday morning killing him and his bodyguard.

Dasanayaka, who was the non-Cabinet minister for nation building, was killed as he was travelling to Colombo to attend the first session of Parliament in the New Year. Eleven others were injured in the explosion of Claymore mine, which was triggered by a remote controlled. The government was quick to blame the attack on Tamil rebels.

His assassination comes just seven days after a out spoken opposition politician T. Maheswaran was gunned down in a Hindu temple in Colombo as he prayed there on January 1. Maheswarn was a strong critic of the government’s human rights record. The Opposition has accused the government of complicity in his killing. The government blamed this killing also on the LTTE.

The question of security for Parliamentarians, irrespective of whether they are in the government or in the opposition, figured during discussions in the legislature. The government said it would enhance security for MPs shortly and added more such attacks could be expected as pressure built on the Tigers with the military on the verge of launching offensive to take LTTE-controlled areas in the northern region.