Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed 11 Muslim labourers in eastern Sri Lanka at the weekend, the army said today.
The deaths near the town of Panama in the eastern district of Ampara come only days after the government and rebels agreed to meet for talks to halt violence that has killed hundreds of people since late July.
"They had gone to renovate a sluice gate and went missing. They have been found dead, hacked and chopped," a military spokesman said. "Some of the bodies have been chopped into pieces."
He said the labourers were believed to have been killed yesterday.