Earlier the Tamil Tigers were accused of closing the water supply to the area irrigated through Maavil Aru canal.

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) spokesman Paul Bjerke told the BBC that the bombing happened in South of Muttur in the Trincomalee district.

Planning and Implementation Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the attacks were "intended to help irrigation engineers gain access to the Maavil Aru canal".

Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe quoting the Sri Lanka Air Force said that the attacks were against suspected Tamil Tiger positions "in and around Verugal area".

Officials accuse the Tigers of blocking sluice gates of the canal located in the rebel held area and preventing the irrigation of thousands of acres of farmland.

Farmers protest

Villagers and farmers led by the Chief Buddhist prelate of the east Seruwila Saranakiththi thero held a protest on Tuesday demanding the government to get the sluice gates open.

The SLMM spokesman said that the LTTE has handed over a letter addressed to the government stating conditions to open the sluice gates.

"I don't want to go into details of the demands," said spokesman Bjerke adding that it is "up to the government to discuss the suggessions".

According to the the government peace secretariat the Maavil Aru sluice gates provide water to 35,000 acres of paddy fields.

War Crimes

the government say the Tamil Tigers are preventing free flow of water to over 15000 families.

In a statement issued by the government it says, "It is recognised that denial of water to civilians and hostile acts against infrastructure indispensable to the survival of civilian population constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity."