Six Sinhalese farmers shot dead

Colombo, Apr 23 (UNI) At least six Sinhalese farmers were shot dead by the suspected Tamil Tiger rebels in the restive Eastern Trincomalee district this evening, adding fuel to the already fragile truce-related violence in the island nation.

''The farmers were in their paddy fields when the Tamil rebels came and killed them around 1650 hrs,'' the military spokesperson's office here said, describing it as yet another act of ''provocation'' by the LTTE.

Earlier in the day, government forces claimed that they had shot and killed three Tamil rebels in two separate incidents when they attempted to lob hand grenades at the soldiers.

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