Thursday, August 10 2006 16:35 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: As many as 45 Tamil civilians and four soldiers were killed in escalating violence in Sri Lanka between the military and the Tamil Tigers, officials and Tamil sources said today (Aug 10, 2006).

The civilians died in air strikes and artillery attacks by security forces in coastal villages near a disputed canal in the country's northeast, the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said. The soldiers were killed Thursday as government troops exchanged artillery and mortar fire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Mahindapura and Kallar areas near the Mavilaru irrigation canal, 260 km northeast of Colombo. The military confirmed that the air force bombed positions in rebel-controlled areas but said they had no immediate word about damage or casualties. Tamilnet said thousands of civilians were still fleeing the areas after the army re-launched the movement of troops towards the disputed canal. "We can only interpret this as Colombo's declaration of war," LTTE military spokesman Irasaiah Ilanthirayan told Tamilnet. The rebels and military have regularly traded blame for attacks and civilian deaths since the fighting over control of the irrigation canal broke out two weeks ago. In Thursday's fighting, soldiers were making a fresh attempt to strengthen their defence lines when they came under attack, one day after the LTTE prevented the army from sending in more troops into the area. A defence ministry spokesman said security forces had been compelled to retaliate in response to rebel attacks as they were aimed recapturing the sluice gates reopened Tuesday night. The closure of the sluice gate of the irrigation canal deprived about 15,000 farming families of water. It was opened Tuesday night amid claims by both the LTTE and the military that they were responsible for restoring the water flow. The LTTE claimed that the gate was reopened after a request from the Norwegian peace facilitators, but the army claimed the rebels opened it due to the government's offensive. More than 300 Tamil rebels, soldiers and civilians have been killed during the offensive and counter attacks in the area in the past two weeks. Among them are 17 local aid workers attached to the French group Action la Contre Faim (Action Against Hunger) who were gunned down at their office in the Muttur area close to the irrigation canal. Sri Lanka's security situation has been deteriorating since December when the LTTE started attacking government forces and the police, prompting the security forces to retaliate. More than 1,000 rebels, soldiers and civilians have been killed during the past eight months. Norwegian facilitators' attempts to get the government and LTTE to resume peace negotiations have failed as the fighting puts a ceasefire reached between the two sides in February 2002 at the breaking point.