 More than 100 people have been killed in the past month |
Amnesty International has urged the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels to end killings and abductions after a sharp rise in violence. More than 100 people have died in the north and the east in the past month, including 40 civilians, the group says.
The violence has brought a four-year ceasefire to the brink of collapse.
The Tigers are blamed for a spate of attacks on military personnel. The rebels say civilians have been beaten and, in some cases killed, by the army.
 |  The deteriorating security situation will also drastically effect aid and relief operations to those displaced by the tsunami and by years of conflict |
Amnesty International says it is "appalled" by the killing of a Tamil MP, Joseph Pararajasingham, who was shot dead while attending midnight mass at a church in Batticaloa on Christmas Eve.
It has also expressed concern over the killing of five young Tamils in Trincomalee earlier this month.
The Sri Lankan government has ordered an inquiry into the killings after post mortems showed that they had been shot in the head, execution-style.
The Tigers blamed the killings on the military, which said it was not involved.
Appeal
"Amnesty International is urging the government of Sri Lanka to institute independent and impartial inquiries into these killings and bring those responsible to justice," the human rights group said in a statement.
It also appealed to the Tamil Tigers "to abide by its commitment to uphold international humanitarian law".
"The deteriorating security situation will also drastically effect aid and relief operations to those displaced by the tsunami and by years of conflict."
Since December, there have been five major deadly attacks on military personnel. More than 50 soldiers and sailors have been killed.
The rebels have denied involvement, although few in Sri Lanka believe them, the BBC's Dumeetha Luthra in Colombo says.
The Tamil Tigers say more than 40 Tamils have been killed by the security forces in a series of attacks over the same period. Others blame some of the deaths on the rebels.
The Tamil Tigers want a separate state in the north and east of Sri Lanka.
More than 60,000 people have died during two decades of conflict.
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