Government troops and Tamil rebels traded fire in northern Sri Lanka as a one-sided truce called by Tiger guerrillas was set to expire Tuesday, military officials said.
Government forces shot dead a member of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Muhamalai in the Jaffna peninsula on Sunday, the military said.
It said guerrillas kept up artillery and mortar bomb attacks against government positions and one bomb exploded near a civilian location causing panic among residents.
The fighting came as a Christmas truce called by the LTTE and extended every month was set to draw to a close on Tuesday. However, the LTTE has in the past two weeks indicated that they may extend it by another month.
The LTTE had told US journalist Marie Colvin, who was wounded while crossing front lines last week, that they will extend the truce to help Norway's attempts to broker peace in the island.
The Tigers had warned, however, last month that they will pull out of the truce unless the government stopped offensive operations and reciprocated their ceasefire – COLOMBO (AFP)
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