COLOMBO, Feb. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Sri Lankan Army has accused the Tamil Tiger rebels of building bunkers in the north in violation of the ongoing truce agreement.

    A report posted on the Army website here Friday said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had built bunkers on either side of A9 highway linking the capital Colombo and the northern city of Jaffna ahead of the forward defense lines at Omanthai.

    This had been brought to the attention of the international truce monitors, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).

    The accusation comes amidst the conclusion of the Geneva talks between the rebels and the government.

    The two sides had agreed in Geneva to strengthen the Norwegian backed cease-fire at the conclusion of the talks on Thursday.

    The two sides are to meet again in Geneva in April to thrash out the wider issues facing the cease-fire, it was said.

    The talks in Geneva came after an upsurge of violence in the North and East provinces during the months of December and January.

    Nearly 100 soldiers were killed in a series of claymore mine explosions blamed on the Tiger rebels.

    The talks in Geneva this week came after a three-year deadlock in direct negotiations between the two sides since the LTTE stageda temporary pull out from the peace process in March 2003. Enditem