By DPA
Colombo : A police commando was blown up in a roadside claymore mine explosion in eastern Sri Lanka in an area declared liberated from the Tamil rebels as sporadic fighting claimed the lives of five others overnight, military officials said Monday.
A team of police commandos carrying out a search operation in Bakmitiyawa, Ampara, 320 km east of the capital, hit the landmine Monday morning, killing one policeman and injuring two commandos belonging to the special task force and a paramilitary guard accompanying them.
Government troops declared that the eastern province was fully liberated from the rebels after nearly a yearlong military operation. However, other sources have maintained that pockets of the rebels still exist in the area.
On Sunday, a soldier was killed and another was injured when a suspected rebel flung a hand grenade at them in Murusavil, 380 km north of the capital.
Two rebels were killed in north-eastern Welioya area Sunday and two others were killed in the northern Vavuniya district Monday morning.
Sporadic fighting in the north and eastern parts of Sri Lanka has increased over the past two weeks leaving more than 125 dead, according to the military.