Tamil Tiger rebels set off a roadside bomb in Sri Lanka's troubled north yesterday, killing a soldier as police carried out mass arrests after a similar blast killed 11 people, officials said.

The latest Claymore mine attack was in the district of Vavuniya where soldiers were on routine operations sweeping for mines along the main road, a local police official said.

In the island's restive east, police arrested 58 people, including undergraduates and teachers, following Wednesday's mine attack which killed 11 people -- six policemen, four soldiers and a civilian.

Sixteen others were wounded in Wednesday's blast blamed on the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killings.

Nearly two weeks ago, government troops captured the main Tiger

bastion of Vakarai town in Batticaloa district, where the guerrillas maintained a de facto separate state for over a decade.

Sri Lanka has vowed to crush "terrorism" following weeks of fighting that officially left 45 soldiers and 331 Tigers killed at Vakarai.

Over 4,000 people have been killed since December 2005 despite a truce that came into effect in February 2002.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's new foreign minister said Wednesday there would be no let-up in military operations against the separatist Tamil Tigers rebels as he urged them to return to the negotiating table.

"We want the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) to become a stake-holder in the peace process" launched in 2002, Rohitha Bogollagama told reporters in New Delhi.

"But if they adopt terrorism, that we cannot tolerate," said Bogollagama, who was in New

Delhi on a brief visit to meet Indian leaders.

Bogollagama's comments Wednesday followed pressure on Colombo from international donors, who this week pledged 4.5 billion dollars in aid, to return to the negotiating table and start talks with the Tamil Tiger rebels.

"Our government is committed to eliminate terrorism but we are also committed to peace," the minister said, adding later: "We encourage the peace negotiations to begin as early as possible."

The minister's comments came 12 days after the Sri Lankan army captured a key rebel stronghold of Vakarai in the island's east.

The 2002 ceasefire agreement, brokered by Norway, has been repeatedly punctured by fighting between Colombo and the Tigers, who want a separate state for the island's Tamil minority.