Sri Lanka's ruling UPFA won a landslide securing 21 of 23 seats in local elections marred by violence that killed at least four people, including an adviser to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The United People's Freedom Alliance headed by Rajapaksa won control of 21 of the 23 councils which went to polls on Saturday, official results announced today showed.

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) managed only to retain the Colombo Municipal Council, considered the most prestigious, while losing their seat in the central town of Kandy which they had held for nearly 60 years.