Wednesday, April 26 2006 10:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Sri Lanka's air force resumed strikes against suspected Tamil Tiger positions today (Apr 26, 2006) a day after a suicide bombing killed 10 people and wounded the army chief, police said.

Air attacks were carried out in the northeastern district of Trincomalee where the military bombed a cluster of boats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last night, a police official in the area said.

"The attacks resumed this morning after a break overnight," a police official in Trincomalee said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The LTTE's Trincomalee district leader S Elilan asked the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) last night to 'clarify' whether the military has launched a full-scale war violating the ceasefire agreement, Tamilnet said.

It said there had been 'severe damage' to life and property in rebel-held areas, but gave no details.

The top officer coordinating the government's peace initiative, Palitha Kohona, said earlier that rebels had fired a few shells at military facilities in Trincomalee after yesterday's attempt on the life of army chief Sarath Fonseka.

"It was unforgivable that the LTTE carried out a suicide bombing in Colombo killing 10 people and wounding the army commander. The air force and naval action is to deter and contain the LTTE from carrying out further provocative attacks," he said.

Asked if the air strikes meant that the four-year ceasefire between Colombo and the Tamil Tigers had effectively ended, Kohona said the government remained committed to the Norwegian-brokered peace process and expected the LTTE to return to truce talks in Switzerland that are now on hold.