A home-made bomb ripped through a crowded park in the Maldives capital Male today, wounding 12 foreign tourists.
Two Britons, two Japanese and eight Chinese were wounded in the blast, in an area popular with holiday-makers, Tourism Minister Mahamood Shougee told AFP.
"Only two Britons suffered extensive burns while the others had minor injuries," he told AFP by telephone, adding that the victims are in a stable condition.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the unprecedented attack on tourists in the Indian Ocean archipelago, which is south Asia's top luxury destination.
"We saw a lot of blood and some of the shrapnel from the bomb," a journalist who was at the scene said by telephone.
Shougee said the crude device went off while tourists were visiting the popular spot in the tiny 2.5-square-kilometre Male, the most populated coral island with more than 70,000 inhabitants.
"Police have begun investigations, and in the meantime the government as well as the tourist resorts are taking care of the needs of the victims," Shougee said.
There have been simmering political tensions in the archipelago of 330,000 Sunni Muslims ruled by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom since 1978.
Gayoom last month won a referendum to maintain the presidential system of government, with voters overwhelmingly rejecting a parliamentary system advocated by his detractors.
Britain, which has considered Maldives a "protectorate" since 1965, confirmed that a dozen people had been wounded in today's blast in Male.
Local residents said no Maldivians were affected by the blast, which occurred as tourists were visiting the main island as part of a guided tour.
The wounded tourists were taken to two hospitals in the capital where their condition was listed as stable.
The Maldives capital saw anti-government riots in September 2003 which led to a major crackdown on dissidents.
Since then, Britain had been helping the government and opposition groups sink their differences and work towards democratic reforms.
AFP