At least 13 sailors have been killed in a mine attack on a convoy in north-western Sri Lanka, officials say.
The army said a mine was detonated as a navy bus and truck passed by in Mannar district and blamed Tamil Tiger rebels.
The killings would be the worst breach of the 2002
ceasefire, but on Friday the Tigers said they were not connected with
the incident.
On Thursday an exchange between Tiger and navy vessels off the northern coast left three sailors dead.
A defence ministry official told the AFP agency the
government suspected the Tigers had carried out Friday's mine attack in
Pesalai, 220km (135 miles) north of the capital, Colombo.
About 30 sailors were travelling on the bus and truck.
Four injured personnel were taken to hospital, the ministry said. Two
are reported to be in critical condition.
Reports say there were two explosions, one a claymore
fragmentation mine and the other either an anti-vehicle mine or a
rocket-propelled grenade.
Tamil Tiger spokesman Daya Master told the BBC there was "no connection whatsoever" between the rebels and the attack.
But the BBC's Dumeetha Luthra in Colombo says there is now real concern Sri Lanka may slip back into conflict.
'Self-protection'
Friday's explosion came after Tamil Tiger rebels confirmed three Sri Lankan sailors had died in Thursday's sea clash.
About 30 military personnel have been killed this month
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The rebels denied a government allegation that they had attacked naval patrol boats and accused the sailors of firing at them.
Truce monitors say under the terms of the 2002 ceasefire, the Tamil Tigers are not allowed to operate at sea.
Government officials say the clash happened after the
rebels, who the say were hiding among a fleet of fishing boats, opened
fire on the naval boats.
It is not clear whether the sailors were killed in the firing or had drowned.
The head of the rebels' political wing, SP Thamilselvan, accused the Sri Lankan navy of opening fire on the Tamil Tigers.
Friday's explosion followed a fatal naval exchange in the north
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"Our members had to return fire for self-protection," he said in a letter to Norwegian peace monitors.
"Please be advised that our members will continue this practice of travelling in the seas with arms for self-defence," he said.
The head of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission said the rebels had no right to be at sea or even armed.
"This is adding more petrol to the fire," Hagrup Haulkand told Reuters.
There has been rising tension in the area since the
beginning of this month due to clashes between the government and the
rebels.
Last month Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran issued an
ultimatum to the new government to come up with a political settlement
within the next year or face an "intensified struggle for
self-determination".
President Mahinda Rajapakse then made an offer to hold
talks with the Tigers anywhere in Asia and said he was "ready for talks
as soon as the Tigers were ready".
Japan had offered to play host.
But the rebels rejected the government's offer, insisting talks be held in Europe.
The Tigers want a separate homeland in the north and east.
The bloodshed in three decades of conflict has cost more than 60,000 lives. | 
It must be the Tigers - they are the only people who would do something like this
