COLOMBO, June 11: At least five civilians were killed and nine more injured in separate attacks on Sunday, officials said. Military spokesperson Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said the military had thwarted two attempts by the rebels on Sunday morning to attack the army with claymore mines.

On Saturday a senior LTTE member and three others were killed in a claymore mine explosion in north western Mannar, rebel spokesman Daya Master confirmed.

The LTTE spokesman said “Colonel” Mahenthi, an LTTE “Commander” in the Mannar district, and three LTTE cadres were killed. Meanwhile, three bodies with cut injuries were found in the Anuradhapura district on Saturday afternoon. Their hands were tied and their faces had been burnt to prevent identification.

“We can no longer say who is killing whom. It’s worrying that both the government and the LTTE is immune to the escalating violence. It seems that both sides are comfortable with the daily killings that take place,” spokeswoman for the Nordic truce monitors, Helen Olafsdottir, told Dawn. At least one hundred civilians have been killed since May, the truce monitors say.