Two S Lanka troops dead in rebel blast-army

COLOMBO, Apr 15 (Reuters) Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed two Sri Lankan soldiers today in a claymore fragmentation mine attack, the army said, as violence on the island spiraled higher.

The attack happened in the northeastern port town of Trincomalee, scene of much of the recent violence that has killed more than 40 in the bloodiest week since a 2002 ceasefire halted two decades of civil war.

''There were three men in the vehicle,'' an army spokesman said.

''Two are dead and one is injured.'' REUTERS CH BST2050