One soldier was killed in Sri Lanka's eastern Batticaloa district Thursday morning by suspected Tamil Tigers, said the military.

The soldier was killed as an Army guard point near the Chenkaladi market place came under an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) small arms attack around 8:30 a.m. (0300 GMT), officials from the Media Center for National Security said.

The Army refrained from retaliating due to the presence of civilians in the vicinity.

During the recent past the LTTE intensified attacks on military installations in the region from the rebel held Thoppigala area.

Around 2,900 people have already crossed over to government controlled areas from Thoppigala citing intimidations by the LTTE.

Escalating clashes between government troops and the LTTE have claimed nearly 4000 lives since December 2005.

Source: Xinhua