Sunday, January 15 2006 19:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Sri Lanka is raising a new security force to be deployed in Colombo next month amidst reports that the capital will be hit by a suicide bombing by Tamil Tiger rebels.

Announcing this here today (Jan 15, 2006), Colombo's police chief Pujith Jayasundera said reports of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels slamming an explosive-laden truck against a key economic target here were unfounded.

"We don't have any specific information to suggest such an attack," he told newsmen, reacting to a report in the privately-run Sunday Leader newspaper.

Jayasundera said he was raising a special unit to deal with emergency situations in Colombo and it would be ready for deployment by next month.

Heavily armed troops have also stepped up check points in the capital in recent weeks and the police were carrying out search operations against rebels as well as criminal elements.

Rumours of an attack in Colombo were fuelled by an escalation of violence in the island's embattled north-east since last month leaving at least 130 people killed. At least 78 of the victims have been security personnel.