A Sri Lankan minister died after a roadside bomb hit his convoy near the capital Colombo on Tuesday.

D.M. Dassanayake, a non-cabinet minister for nation building, died in hospital following the explosion of a fragmentation mine, which injured five others, CNN reported.

The deadly device is frequently used by the Tamil Tigers rebels, who are behind the attack, according to the police.

Violence between the rebels and the government intensified after the cabinet announced last week that it was walking away from a nearly six-year long truce.

About 65,000 people have died in the brutal civil war, in which the two sides have engaged since 1983.

The Tamil Tigers demand independence for the Tamil minority in the north and east of the island, located south of India.

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