From Our Correspondent

COLOMBO, June 6: Sri Lanka saw a marked escalation in violence that killed four persons and injured five as a five-member LTTE delegation arrived in Oslo for two-day talks with the Sri Lankan government.

In Colombo a claymore mine exploded in close proximity to a navy camp injuring two civilians when suspected rebels targeted a navy convoy, the military said.

The claymore blast, the first to be set off in the capital, took place early morning on Tuesday, 50 meters from a navy camp off the highway leading to the Colombo International Airport.

In Northern Vavuniya, two police officers were killed and two seriously injured in a claymore attack on Tuesday evening, while two anti-LTTE Tamil political activists were killed in an islet off the northern Jaffna peninsula.

Suspected Tiger cadres shot two members of the Eelam Democratic People’s Party (EPDP), the military said.

In northern Jaffna, LTTE gunmen on a motorbike lobbed hand-grenades at a military checkpoint injuring a soldier, sources said.

“The attacks come at the wrong time. It was our hope that the Oslo talks, which will only discuss issues pertaining to ceasefire monitoring by the Nordic truce monitors, could be used as a stepping stone to initiate peace talks in Geneva,” spokesperson for Defence Affairs Minister Keheliye Rambukwella told Dawn.

“The government will not forget that we are dealing with a guerilla group. We cannot reciprocate with terrorism. Our delegation will seek to make the best out of the Oslo talks,” the government’s defence spokesperson said.