Tamil Tigers shell troop convoy

Both sides have been involved in exchanges of fire Enlarge Image

Four Sri Lankan soldiers have been killed after rebels attacked an army convoy escorting reporters in northern Jaffna peninsula, the military says.

No journalists were hurt in the attack near the front line at Mahumalai.

The Tamil Tigers told the BBC they were not informed of the reporters' visit. Earlier, the air force bombed rebel targets in eastern Batticaloa district.

Sri Lanka's 20-year civil war escalated in late July. Hundreds of people have been killed in violence this year.

Mortar fire

Some of the fiercest exchanges in recent weeks have been in Jaffna. The army says it has made advances into Tamil Tiger-held territory in the Mahumalai area.

The renewed fighting has placed civilians at greater risk than at any time since 2002 Human Rights Watch

About 25 reporters and photographers, including the BBC's Dumeetha Luthra, were being taken to inspect the so-called forward defence line when the mortars were fired.

The journalists were taken back to the main military base of Palaly.

The trip was the first access news organisations have had to Jaffna during weeks of heavy fighting.

The clashes have effectively cut access by road to and from the Jaffna peninsula, leaving thousands of people trapped and running short of vital supplies.

Ships have been sent by the government and aid agencies to bring supplies to the area and evacuate civilians.

So far there are no details of any casualties or damage from Batticaloa.

Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said jets attacked "identified" rebel positions.

'Abuses'

The latest violence came as both sides were accused of failing to protect civilians during recent fighting.

The US-based group, Human Rights Watch, says that both the government and the rebels have been responsible for numerous preventable deaths since major fighting resumed in April.

The group urged both sides to accept a United Nations monitoring mission in Sri Lanka.

"The renewed fighting has placed civilians at greater risk than at any time since the 2002 ceasefire agreement," said James Ross, senior legal advisor at Human Rights Watch, who wrote the report.

"Both sides are responsible for serious abuses committed with utter disregard for civilian security."

On Monday, the bodies of 11 Muslim civilians were found in the eastern district of Ampara, home to a large number of Sri Lanka's Muslim minority.

They had been hacked to death after they had apparently gone to repair an irrigation system.

The government accused the Tamil Tigers of the killings, but the rebels have blamed the army, pointing out that they happened in a government-held area.

More than 60,000 people have been killed since the rebels began their fight the 1970s for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east.