SUSPECTED TAMIL TIGER REBELS DETONATED A MINE IN EASTERN SRI LANKA ON WEDNESDAY, KILLING TWO SOLDIERS AND WOUNDING ONE, THE MILITARY SAID, IN CONTINUING VIOLENCE THAT THREATENS TO PUSH THE ISLAND NATION BACK INTO CIVIL WAR. THE MINE EXPLODED NEAR SOLDIERS PATROLLING ON FOOT IN A VILLAGE BORDERING EASTERN BATTICALOA DISTRICT, 220 KILOMETERS (140 MILES) EAST OF THE CAPITAL, COLOMBO, MILITARY SPOKESMAN BRIG. PRASAD SAMARASINGHE SAID. ALSO WEDNESDAY, A TAMIL CIVILIAN WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY UNKNOWN GUNMEN IN THE STREETS OF THE NORTHERN TOWN OF JAFFNA, SAID LOCAL RESIDENTS WHO WITNESSED THE SHOOTING, ACCORDING TO A REPORT OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.