Two Sri Lankan soldiers were injured Thursday morning as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE) rebels detonated a claymore mine on an Army tractor in north Sri Lanka, defense officials said Thursday.

The tractor was moving on a road inspection at around 9:30 a.m. local time (0330 GMT) when it was hit by a claymore mine in Eechchantivu area in Mannar, 312 km from Colombo, officials said.

One of the two injured was rushed to the capital Colombo for urgent treatment.

At about the same time in the Eastern Province, the Army on a road inspection mission shot and killed a suspected member of the LTTE in Chetiyarkuduirupu area in Batticaloa, 340 km from the capital.

The Army said the killed LTTE member was in the process of laying a claymore to attack the military, adding that 30 meters of claymore wire and two grenades were found at the scene.

In December the LTTE carried out as many as four separate claymore mine attacks against the troops, killing some 40 soldiers. There were at least two other occasions when the Army discovered the deadly mines before they could be detonated.

The acts of violence by the Tigers against the troops have heightened fears of returning to war in the country's north and east.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's government has reiterated its commitment to restart the stalled peace negotiations with the LTTE despite the rebels resorting to violence.

Source: Xinhua