COLOMBO: In a sharp escalation of violence in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula on Sunday, seven soldiers were killed in two separate attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Army said.

While six soldiers were killed in a claymore attack, a soldier was killed when "unidentified LTTE cadres" attacked a patrol unit which was returning to an army camp.

With the attacks, eight soldiers had been killed and at least 12 were injured in several incidents since Friday. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has warned against the escalating violence and appealed to the Government, the LTTE and all community leaders to "bring an end to the disorder."

The claymore attack, in which two improvised explosive devices were triggered by the LTTE, caused "the most number of deaths to troops in a single attack" since the Government and the LTTE signed a ceasefire agreement in February 2002, the Army said.

According to a report in the TamilNet website, a handbill was issued in Jaffna last week by a group calling itself the "Roaring People's Force" which warned that "reprisal attacks" on "soldiers and intelligence operatives" would escalate if attacks against Tamil activists and civilians continued.

SLMM's warning

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said in a statement it had "observed and witnessed a dangerous trend of violence in the North and the East in the last few days resulting in a number of deaths and injuries of both civilians and security forces personnel."

Referring to the "countless attacks," it warned that "there is a real danger that these disturbances and hostilities can spread and result in irreparable deterioration of security and prevent any real restoration of normalcy in the affected communities."

Colombo condemns blast

The Government strongly condemned the claymore explosion terming it "provocative" and "pre-planned terrorist attack" on Army personnel "engaged in non-offensive routine activities."

The attack demonstrated the LTTE's "lack of sincerity towards negotiations and a political settlement" after President Mahinda Rajapakse "extended an invitation for the resumption of peace talks," the Government said. Terming it a "blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement," Colombo called upon the international community to "condemn such terrorist acts which place obstacles in the way of furthering the peace process."

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