Mine blast rocks Sri Lanka truce, monitors urge calm

Six soldiers were killed in a landmine blast in northern Sri Lanka Sunday, the military said amid an upsurge in violence that prompted Scandanavian truce monitors to warn of "irreparable" damage to the country's four-year-old ceasefire.







Six soldiers were killed in a landmine blast in northern Sri Lanka Sunday, the military said amid an upsurge in violence that prompted Scandanavian truce monitors to warn of "irreparable" damage to the country's four-year-old ceasefire. The six men were killed and another injured when their vehicle triggered a mine planted by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels in Jaffna, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital Colombo, an official said.

"The troops were transporting lunch for their colleagues when they were caught up in the explosion," a military official in the area said.

"We believe it is the work of the Tigers."

Hours later, rebel gunmen opened fire at a military sentry point in Jaffna, killing a soldier, an official said, adding that another soldier was killed in a Tiger attack overnight in the same area.

In other violence, one solider was shot dead Saturday in northern Sri Lanka while three civilians were killed in the eastern port city of Trincomalee on Sunday.

Sunday's bla