India closely watching Sri Lanka situation

New Delhi, Aug 1 (UNI) India is closely watching the situation in Sri Lanka where violence between government troops and the LTTE has escalated during the past few days resulting in several casualties on both sides.

''We are watching the situation in Sri Lanka closely,'' a spokesman of the External Affairs Ministry said today in response to a question.

Reports said 35 LTTE members and seven Army soldiers were killed in fighting in Eastern province yesterday while 15 government troops lost their lives in an LTTE attack today. This was one of the worst cases of ceasefire violation between the two since 2002.

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