COLOMBO, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- At least four government soldiers were injured when Tamil Tiger rebels triggered a claymore mine targeting a convoy of military buses in northern Sri Lanka on Monday, said the military.

    Military Spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said three Navy sailors and one Army soldier were injured in the attack in the Mannar district around 12:30 p.m. local time (0700 GMT).

    The injured have been rushed to the Anuradhapura hospital, with one victim in critical condition, hospital officials said.

    Defence officials said the convoy of buses were carrying unarmed security forces personnel going on leave for the New Year holiday.

    Mannar and other parts of the Northern Province are now the major battlefield between government troops and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after the military said in mid-July that the entire Eastern Province had been free of rebels.

    More than 5,000 people have been killed in the new wave of violence since the end of 2005, making the Norwegian brokered ceasefire agreement exist only on paper.

    Claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinhala majority, the LTTE has been fighting the government since the mid-1980s to establish a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east.