COLOMBO, March 3: The defence ministry said it has directed the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) to ban the sale of all telecom services in the north and east by third parties to prevent the LTTE from using the retail network for terrorist activities.

Top level army officials in Colombo confirmed the ban imposed on the sales of mobile handsets and SIM cards by third party retailers in the volatile north and east where fighting between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the military is taking place.

The directive for the ban was issued after an investigation found that the guerillas had penetrated into the distribution network of retailers of telecommunications products, military officials said.