posted June 07, 2000 08:55 PM         

COLOMBO, June 7 (AFP) - A suicide bombing on Colombo's outskirts which killed a leading politician, the bomber and 19 others on Wednesday was the latest in a long line of attacks against top Sri Lankan officials.

Following are the major suicide bombings blamed on the rebels.

June 7, 2000: Suicide bomber assassinatesg Industries Minister C.V. Gooneratne, killing himself, 19 others and injuring at least 30 people.

June 5, 2000: A navy gun boat is sunk by suicide bombers in the country's north, leaving five dead.

May 23, 2000: A local politician survives an attack by two suicide bombers who were killed in the attempt in Sri Lanka's north-eastern town of Kantalai.

March 10, 2000: An attack along the Ceremonial Drive to parliament kills at least 23 people, including three policemen.

March 2, 2000: A woman suicide bomber detonates explosives strapped to her body near the vehicle of Piyal Abeysekara, the top military commander in north-east Trincomalee district, but misses him and kills his driver instead.

January 5, 2000: At least 11 killed and 24 wounded when a woman suicide bomber detonates explosives outside the office of Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike.

December 18, 1999: President Chandrika Kumaratunga is wounded and 38 are killed in two separate attacks on election rallies.

July 29, 1999: Moderate Tamil politician Neelan Thiruchelvam is killed by a suicide bomber who approaches his car in Colombo's Cinnamon Gardens diplomatic quarter.

September 11, 1998: Twelve people, including the mayor, are killed in Jaffna when a bomb blast rocks the municipal council building.

March 5, 1998: Bus bomb attack in Colombo's commercial area of Maradana kills 37 and wounds 250.

January 25, 1998: Suicide bombers devastate the country's holiest Buddhist shrine in the town of Kandy, killing 16.

October 15, 1997: Suicide bombers aboard a truck packed with a large quantity of explosives devastate the Twin-Tower World Trade Centre building, killing 18.

January 31, 1996: A suicide bomber in a truck packed with explosives destroys the Central Bank, killing 91 and wounding 1,400.

October 24, 1994: Opposition leader Gamini Dissanayake and 56 others are killed by a suicide bomber in Colombo.

May 1, 1993: President Ranasinghe Premadasa and 23 others are killed by a suicide bomber in Colombo.

November 16, 1992: Navy chief Clancey Fernando is killed in a suicide bombing.

June 22, 1991: A suicide bomber drives a truck packed with explosives into the military Joint Operations Headquarters at Flower Road, killing 21 and wounding 114.

May 21, 1991: Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is killed at a meeting in southern India.

March 2, 1991: Defence minister Ranjan Wijeratne is among 19 people killed when a car bomb is detonated in Colombo.

July 5, 1987: The LTTE carries out its first suicide bombing, killing 40 troops at the Nelliyady army camp in the north of the country.