The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) set off the surface mounted mine at Nilaveli, a former popular tourist spot, as sailors were on a foot patrol, a local official said.
"One died on the spot while the other succumbed to his injuries after being taken to the Trincomalee hospital," a police official said as a magisterial inquiry got underway.
The attack came as Sri Lanka's key foreign aid donors -- the United States, the European Union, Japan and Norway -- in a joint statement asked both the government and the Tigers to refrain from military action.
The quartet said a Sri Lankan military bomb attack Thursday inside the rebel political capital of Kilinochchi had hit a house, killing five people and damaged the nearby hospital where patients fled in fear.
Sri Lanka's defence ministry has accused the LTTE of gearing up for a major offensive following the failure of the latest peace talks in Geneva last weekend and ahead of their leader's birthday later this month.
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