Sri Lanka blast kills 2 officials, new air strikes

COLOMBO, Jan 5 (Reuters) A claymore mine exploded in northern Sri Lanka today, killing two government agriculture officials, the Tamil Tiger rebels said, as government planes bombed rebel bases for a fourth consecutive day.

The Tigers said a Sri Lankan army group had crossed into the rebel-controlled Nedunkeni area, apparently to target rebels but hit government officials by mistake.

The military denied any involvement.

''It was a deep penetration team, they launched a claymore attack against a vehicle belonging to the department of agriculture ... killing two officials travelling inside and wounding a further three,'' said Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) military spokesman R. Ilannthirayan.

He said government troops began shelling the area soon after the mine explosion, but a military spokesman denied any involvement in the attack, saying troops were not in the area.

''It is 20-25 kms inside. We don't have anyone there. We totally deny this,'' Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said.

The military said Sri Lankan warplanes destroyed another Sea Tiger base in the northern rebel-controlled Mullaittivu area in a fourth consecutive day of air strikes. It did not give any details on casualties.

Independent confirmation of the fighting is not possible, and both sides often exaggerate rival losses while downplaying their own, but violence between the military and the LTTE has escalated in recent weeks, with the government vowing to dislodge the rebels from their strongholds in the east.

The air raids have become the latest flashpoint in tensions in the island after the Tigers and the United Nations said a strike on Tuesday in the northwest of the island killed 14 people, including children.

The military denied hitting civilian settlements and said the planes had targeted a rebel naval base after intense surveillance.

More than 3,000 people were killed in suicide bombings, aerial and naval raids and clashes last year despite a 2002 ceasefire that international monitors say now exists only on paper.

REUTERS MQA HS1243