COLOMBO, June 29, 2007 (AFP) - At least five bus passengers, including a soldier, were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Sri Lanka's northern Vavuniya district on Friday, officials said.

Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off the mine at Cheddikulam as the civilian bus passed the area, military officials said.

A similar bomb attack killed an officer and a soldier in the Jaffna peninsula, further north, on Thursday.

The latest violence came as the military said it had stepped up a campaign against the Tamil Tigers in the east of the island, despite efforts by peace broker Norway to save a tattered truce agreement dating back to 2002.

More than 60,000 people are reported to have been killed in the separatist campaign in the past 35 years.

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