COLOMBO: A roadside bomb killed eight Tamil Tiger rebels in their own territory in the island’s far north on Tuesday, Nordic truce monitors said, in what appeared to be an ambush.

The attack in Mankulam, along the island's main north-south artery that spans government and rebel held territory, is the latest in a spree of roadside bombs attacks in recent months, the vast majority of them against government troops.

“A Claymore in Mankulam this morning killed eight (Tiger) cadres,” a spokesman for the unarmed Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said. The Tigers said they had no immediate details and the military was not immediately available for comment.

Military analysts say deep penetration units of soldiers are operating behind Tiger lines and resorting to guerrilla tactics to fight the insurgents on their own terms as a new chapter in a two-decade civil war escalates.—Reuters