Scandinavian officials entrusted with monitoring a fragile cease-fire in Sri Lanka became the target of attack for the first time late on January 13 when one of the group’s vehicles was blown up in its compound, the latest act in a slow but steady descent toward war. No one was injured in the blast at the base of the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in the eastern town of Batticaloa. LTTE rebels are believed to be behind the attack but the LTTE has denied its involvement in the act and blamed the government forces for defaming the LTTE.





The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and its unarmed members, drawn from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland, have found themselves increasingly beleaguered in their efforts to prevent a return to an all-out conflict that has claimed thousands of lives over two decades.





In December alone, 100 people, half of them civilians, were killed in a spike in violence that has continued into the new year and that prompted a statement of concern from the truce monitors just hours before the blast.





Norway brokered the cease-fire between the government and the ethnic separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in February 2002 and agreed to send teams of unarmed monitors to keep a check on the truce. Technically, the cease-fire accord remains in place, but it is barely hanging by a thread.





Rebels have been blamed for recent attacks on the military, and the military has been accused of abuses against civilians. Abductions and political assassinations are routine at Batticaloa, where a breakaway Tamil Tiger faction holds sway.





Read More: The New York Times