Suspected LTTE ambush kills 1, wounds 6

COLOMBO, July 18: Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels today killed a civilian and wounded six people in a mine blast in Sri Lanka's north and shot a policeman in the east, officials said.

A claymore fragmentation mine exploded in the army-held Jaffna peninsula, at the island's northern tip, spraying hundreds of ball bearings as an army patrol scoured roadside scrub for boobytraps and explosives.

Near daily attacks and clashes between the military and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have killed more than 700 people so far this year and are straining a 2002 ceasefire to breaking point.

''A Claymore targeted the army in Jaffna, killing one civilian and injuring six people, including four soldiers,'' said a military spokesman. ''Obviously it's the work of the LTTE.'' A police constable was shot and wounded in the eastern district of Ampara.

Many diplomats and analysts fear a rash of violence in recent months could escalate and spiral into a new chapter in Sri Lanka's two-decade civil war, which has killed more than 65,000 people since 1983.

The Tigers have pulled out of peace talks indefinitely and the government has rejected outright their demands for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils in the north and east, and many fear a permanent peace deal is likely years off.

REUTERS