Sporadic violence continued in Sri Lanka with troops and Tamil Tiger rebels exchanging artillery and mortar fire, the army said on Friday, as peace envoys pushed both sides to stick the course for planned peace talks.
Scores of people have been killed in the past few weeks in the island nation in fresh fighting that has left a 2002 truce in shreds and dimmed hopes of a breakthrough in peace talks in Geneva on Oct. 28-29, the first such dialogue since February.
In the latest clashes, rebels fired mortars at an army base in the eastern Batticaloa district late on Thursday, sparking army retaliation. There were no casualties, the military said.
Both sides also had artillery duels overnight in the northern Jaffna peninsula but no details of casualties were immediately available.
The continuing violence came as US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher is visiting the restive nation where Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for an independent homeland since 1983 for the ethnic Tamil minority.
Since July, violence has surged leaving around 1,000 people dead, including many soldiers, alarming Colombo's main donors.
"Richard Boucher wants to send a message there should be an immediate cessation of violence," US embassy spokesman Evan Owen said.
"It is more important to talk now than ever as Sri Lanka is in danger of going to all-out war."
Boucher, who met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Thursday, will hold a news conference later on Friday.
On Wednesday, the rebels launched a sea-borne suicide raid on a naval base in the southern city of Galle, losing 15 cadres and killing one sailor, the first such attack on a town in the Sinhalese-dominated south.
Last week, dozens of rebels and soldiers were killed in battles in the north-east and hundreds of combatants wounded.
This was followed this week by a Tiger rebel suicide attack on a convoy in a north-central district, killing around 100 people, mostly navy sailors.
Japan, the biggest financial donor to Sri Lanka, also sent its envoy Yasushi Akashi this week who met with Tamil Tiger leaders in Kilinochchi, the rebel headquarters in the north, on Thursday.
Security was tight in the capital Colombo with soldiers manning checkpoints and using cordon searches to look for suspected rebels.
Despite the planned talks, the Sri Lankan media is warning the government to step up its vigil.
"Clearly, the Tigers are intent on continuing their terror spree and, as long they are hell-bent on this course, the state is bound to bring them to heel," the Daily News editorial said.
More than 65,000 people have died in the two-decade conflict.