TRINCOMALEE, April 25: The Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam exchanged artillery fire on Tuesday after the air force bombed the LTTE’s bases in Trincomalee in the wake of the attack on the army chief earlier in the day.

The navy also opened fire from a fast attack craft in the eastern Sampoor area, 250kms east of Colombo.

Authorities clamped a 14-hour curfew on Trincomalee after things appeared to be spinning out of control.

Sources close to the LTTE say that the rebels had abandoned hopes for a peace agreement and have started considering calling off the ceasefire by Friday.

President Mahinda Rajapakse, in an address to the nation after the attack on the army chief, accused the LTTE of trying to fuel communal tension between the Sinhalese and Tamils.

He advised the majority Sinhala community not to fall into the trap set by the guerillas to trigger ethnic clashes.

He said it was now clear to his government that the LTTE did not want a peaceful solution.

“I ask the people of this country not to take the law into their hands,” Mr Rajapakse said as fears ran high that the fighting in Trincomalee could spread to Colombo and southern districts.