Washington: The US expressed deep concern over rising ethnic violence in Sri Lanka and called on the government and Tamil separatists to embrace peace and work together on Tuesday.
"We are deeply concerned about the continued erosion of Sri Lanka's four-year old ceasefire as marked by the recent series of violent incidents," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said in a statement.
"The US recognises that a lasting peace in Sri Lanka can only be achieved by Sri Lankans," he said.
"We call on both sides to embrace peace and work together to build a future for Sri Lanka that is prosperous and secure," Ereli added.
The statement noted that the US, as a co-chair of the Sri Lanka Donors Group along with Japan, the European Community, Norway and the United Kingdom, had met with leaders of the Tamil separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Kilinocchi on Christmas Eve.
The Sri Lanka Donors Group met with the LTTE to urge an immediate end to violence and to encourage them to engage positively with the government in peace talks.
Suspected Tamil Tiger militants staged two bomb attacks in Sri Lanka's embattled regions on Tuesday, killing 10 soldiers and a constable and heightening fears for a faltering truce in the island's ethnic conflict.
The conflict has left more than 60,000 people dead since 1972.
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