COLOMBO, Aug 7: A senior police officer was killed in a claymore mine attack carried out by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels on Monday morning, 10 kilometres southeast of Kandy. He had been travelling to the Special Task Force (STF) training college when his car was hit by the claymore mine, police said.

Senior Superintendent of Police Upul Seneviratne had served in the volatile eastern province as head of the elite Special Task Force.

He was functioning as head of the STF training school when he was killed.

The latest LTTE attack comes in the wake of the government on Sunday resuming military operations against Tamil Tiger rebels saying it wanted to free a key reservoir from the LTTE in order to provide water to thousands of civilians in government-controlled areas.

The LTTE closed the sluice gates of a key reservoir in Mavillaru in eastern Trincomalee two weeks ago, depriving at least 20,000 civilians and farmers in government-controlled areas of water.

However, the international ceasefire monitors now say the government has ‘other agendas’ and the continued warfare is ‘not just about water’.

The truce monitors on Monday blamed the government for resuming military action while the rebels were ready to open the sluice gates.

“We hold the government responsible for resuming attacks. The issue could have been settled by discussion as the LTTE had halted their offensive.

“It seems the government has other agendas. It’s not just about water,” Thorfinnur Omarsson, the spokesman for the truce monitors, said.

The government claims the LTTE had laid conditions to open the sluice gates and maintains it will not ‘negotiate with terrorists’ over an essential human need.