Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jan 22, 2010, SPA -- Assailants attacked the house of an opposition activist in Sri Lanka's capital amid fears that election-related violence could mar the country's first poll since the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels after decades of war, according to AP. On Friday, the main opposition group blamed incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa's supporters for the Thursday attack on the house of Tiran Alles, a businessman and a close aide to the main opposition presidential candidate, former army chief Sarath Fonseka. No one was injured in the attack, but Alles' car was destroyed and home damaged. The government denied it was involved, saying the attack was aimed at disrupting and discrediting this Tuesday's vote, in which Rajapaksa and Fonseka are locked in a bitter and close race. Both men are at the height of their popularity for their role in crushing the Tamil Tigers in May and ending the rebel's 25-year armed campaign for an independent state for the ethnic Tamil minority. Some 80,000-100,000 people were killed in the conflict. The rise in the number of election-related incidents has already prompted U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to call on all sides to refrain from violence. U.S. Embassy and the country's influential Buddhist monks have also called for restraint. Five murders and 78 assaults have occurred during the two-month campaign period, according to the independent Center for Monitoring Election Violence. The number of attacks is higher compared to those recorded during the 1999 election, the center said in a statement. Last week a bus carrying Fonseka's supporters was sprayed with gunfire by unidentified assailants, killing a woman and wounding nine others. A grenade blast at the house of a government minister killed his driver in another incident. Rights groups have accused the government of using state resources to secure Rajapaksa's re-election. Reporters Without Borders said Thursday that Fonseka is getting almost no air time on state media. It also accused the telecommunications regulator of ordering mobile phone operators to issue text messages on behalf of the president. A spokesman for Rajapaksa said the group's allegations went beyond its mandate and was not worth responding to. --SPA 19:03 LOCAL TIME 16:03 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/740552