Sri Lanka roadside bomb, clash kill 4 soldiers

COLOMBO, May 21 (Reuters) A roadside bomb planted by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed two soldiers in Sri Lanka's restive north today hours after insurgents had shot dead two soldiers in the island's east overnight, the military said.

''Two soldiers were killed in a Claymore (fragmentation mine blast) in Vavuniya this morning,'' said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe. He was referring to the district 260 km north of Colombo, where fighting has shifted since the fall of the Tigers' eastern stronghold.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who are fighting for an independent state in Sri Lanka's north and east, were not immediately available for comment on the attacks, which come amid sporadic land and sea clashes.

Around 4,000 people have been killed since last year as a new chapter unfolds in a two-decade civil war in which nearly 70,000 people have died since 1983.

The international community is increasingly frustrated at both sides for ignoring calls to halt a conflict that has also displaced more than 500,000 people from their homes. Britain and the United States have both suspended some aid over concerns about human rights abuse.

REUTERS NY VV1100