COLOMBO, April 17 (Xinhua) -- In the continuation of violence in northeastern Sri Lanka at least four soldiers were killed and eight others were injured in a powerful claymore mine explosion on Monday, defense officials said.

    A powerful claymore mine blamed on the Tamil Tigers exploded at Veppankulam near the northern town of Vavuniya around 9:00 a.m. local time (0330 GMT).

    "The mine appeared to have been concealed in a three wheeler taxi when it exploded," a police official in Vavuniya said by telephone.

    The police special task force had carried out a road check just minutes before it exploded.

    Officials said the violence which the international truce monitors had said had cost over 60 lives during the last nine days is the work of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.

    Just a few minutes before the Vavuniya explosion, in the northern Jaffna district a suspected LTTE member who was carrying a claymore mine at Meesalai had it exploding in his hands, the Jaffna defense officials said.

    At least three LTTE cadres were believed to have died in the explosion which was meant to target the Jaffna troops.

    The latest upsurge in violence has hampered efforts by the Norwegian peace facilitators to have the two sides meeting in Geneva for the round two of the truce talks.

    The talks were postponed to April 24-25 from original dates of April 19-21.

    The government accuses the Tigers of finding excuses not to attend the talks as they keep on attacking the security forces despite the pledges made in Geneva round one talk in February.

    The Nordic truce monitors, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has blamed both sides equally for playing politics endangering the larger issue of the peace process. Enditem