Suspected Tamil rebels have escalated killings despite fresh pressure from the United States on Sri Lanka's warring parties to end a 19-month deadlock in peace talks, officials said Sunday. A former military informant was gunned down in the north-eastern district of Trincomalee Saturday night in what military officials said was a killing carried out by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"We are seeing an increase in attacks," a military official said. "There had also been a grenade attack against a Tiger office (Saturday) night, but no one was hurt in that."
Saturday's shooting came as US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage condemned recent attacks by Tamil Tiger rebels as an "assault" on the Norwegian-backed peace process and urged all sides to resume talks.
The US State Department said in Washington Friday that Armitage conveyed the message in phone calls to Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Armitage "strongly condemned recent terrorist actions of the LTTE that fly in the face of efforts by all other Sri Lankans and the international community to bring peace to this war-torn country," deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.