COLOMBO, Aug. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Violence that has plagued Sri Lanka's eastern region continued on Monday when a government soldier came under gunfire, defense officials said.

    The soldier on a road patrol at Mankerni north of Batticaloa was injured when an unidentified gunman fired at him around mid day Monday.

    This followed violence in the same areas on Friday and Saturday.On Friday two leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed allegedly by loyalists of the rebel renegade eastern commander known as Karuna.

    Then on Saturday two army men suffered injuries due to a hand grenade attack.

    The east of the country has been a hotbed of violence ever since Karuna broke ranks with the LTTE in March.

    The latest incident Monday took place as the Acting Defense Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake left here on a two-day visit to the north.

    He was to assess the security situation in the northern city of Vavuniya by meeting with the top defense officials there.

    The government has called on the LTTE rebels to stop their killings spree both in the east and in the capital Colombo while the rebels blamed the government for delaying the revival of the stalled peace talks.

    The February 2002 cease-fire agreement between the two sides appears to be under threat currently due to ongoing violence. Enditem¡¡