Fourteen people were killed while at least 46 others, including a government minister, were injured Tuesday morning in a suicide explosion blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels in southern Sri Lanka, defense officials said.

Officials from the Defense Ministry said an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eealm) suicide bomber attacked the Jumma mosque at Godapitiya, in Akurassa, in the Matara district around 10:30 a.m. local time (0500 GMT).

Fourteen civilians and the suicide bomber were killed while 46 others, including Post and Telicommunication Minister Mahinda Wijesekara, were injured in the explosion in Matara, about 160 km south of the capital Colombo.

Officials said that Wijesekara suffered head injuries and was initially treated in the Matara hospital and then air lifted to the capital Colombo.

"There were six ministers present, only one of them were injured," Petroleum Minister A. H. M. Fowzie told reporters.

"A special medical team has been sent by air to Matara to attend to urgent medical needs," Hector Weerasinghe, the director of the National Hospital said in Colombo.

The suicide bomber targeted the Islam devotees attending the national Milad-Un-Nabi celebration, held at the mosque which was attended by several ministers and a large number of civilians, the military said.

The Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed is celebrated as a national festival in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan government has strongly condemned the attack, saying it will only strengthen the government's resolve to end terrorism in the island.

"The government condemns in the strongest possible terms the LTTE suicide bomb attack. The attack reaffirms the fact that the LTTE is not only a ruthless terrorist outfit but also one which has no regard or respect for religion," said the government in a statement.

The statement said the attack, deliberately targeting the Muslim Community, underscores the hatred the LTTE has towards the Muslim population of Sri Lanka.

"This reminds us of the LTTE's massacre of more than 200 Muslims at worship in three mosques at Kaththankudy and Eravur in the east, in August 1990," the statement added.

The government said it remains unwaveringly committed to rid the country of the terrorist menace and bring about peace. "This attack will only serve to strengthen the resolve of the government and the security forces in this regard," said the statement.

The explosion came as the government says its military offensive against the LTTE is at final stage as the rebel organization has been cornered in a small area of just about 40 sq km in the northern Mullaittivu district.

Government officials said the LTTE made the attack to divert the attention of the security forces who are on the verge of totally defeating the LTTE.

The troops have recaptured most of the LTTE's 15,000 sq km territories in successive military victories since 2006.

Claiming discrimination at the hands of Sinhalese majority governments, the LTTE began its armed struggle in the 1980s to set up an independent Tamil homeland in the north and east, resulting in the killing of more than 70,000 people.

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2009)