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Heavy fighting grips Lanka as truce ends

AFP, Colombo
Heavy fighting between government troops and Tamil Tigers broke out in northern Sri Lanka yesterday, hours after Colombo announced it was pulling out of a tattered ceasefire agreement with the rebels.
At least six Tiger rebels and a government soldier were killed in the latest clashes along the de facto border of the mini-state run by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the defence ministry said.
For their part, the Tigers said they beat back a military offensive
into their territory and claimed they killed 10 government soldiers and wounded 15 more. The rebels said in a statement that they did not suffer any losses.
Both sides arc known to claim heavy losses for their adversaries and there is no independent verification.
In the capital Colombo, the already tight security was further strengthened one day after suspected LTTE rebels set off a roadside bomb targeting an army bus that killed five and wounded 28.
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Two government soldiers were also killed and three wounded in another mine attack in the north-central part of the island onThursday, police said.
An opposition Tamil lawmaker who was gunned down on NewYear's Day at a Hindu temple was cremated in Colombo Thursday amid heavy security and protests by human rights groups, which hold the government responsible for the slaying.
The government has denied involvement.
On Wednesday night. Sri Lanka announced it was formally pulling out of the Norwegian-brokered 2002 ceasefire agreement, after months of escalating violence and with authorities believing they now have the upper hand in the decades-old conflict.
Government spokesman and media minister Anura Yapa said the government viewed the 2002 truce agrcement asa "flawed document.”
The government does not want to be a part)’ to a non-functioning ceasefire agreement." Yapa told reporters here. "But it does not imply that the government has shut the door for negotiations."
He said that if the Tamil rebels were to lay down their arms - an unlikely event - the government could resume talks facilitated by Norway, which broke down in October 2006.
Sri Lankan military chiefs have promised an imminent turning point in the war and have vowed to eject the rebels from their mini-state in the tropical island's northern Wanni jungles.
Under the ceasefire that went into effect from February 23, 2002 both the Sri Lankan government and the Ihmil Tigers had the option to pull out after giving two weeks' written notice to the Norwegian foreign minister.
Colombo's withdrawal will also ead to the collapse of the Morwegian-led Sri Lankan
Monitoring Mission, which recorded violations and provided die only independent account of violence in the troubled regions.
Norway's International Development Minister Erik Solheim, an architect of the 2002 truce, expressed his concern over the possibility of a slide back into all-out war.
"I regret that the government is taking this serious step," Solheim said in a statement.
"Tliis comes on top of the increasingly frequent and brutal acts of violence perpetrated by both parties, and I am deeply concerned that the violence and hostilities will now escalate even further."