At least 4 people were killed while 9 others were injured in acts of violence reported from north and east provinces, the police said Thursday.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels were accused by their rival Karuna faction of carrying out an attack on a political office of the renegades in the eastern Batticaloa district's Chenkaladi area around 3 AMlocal time (21:30 GMT).

The attackers opened fire and escaped while throwing a hand grenade.

Three Karuna members were killed while 8 others were injured.

The LTTE's pistol gang was blamed for the gunning down of a civilian in the same district around 8 PM local time (14:30 GMT) on Wednesday.

Another civilian was injured when the rebel pistol gang opened fire in the northern town of Vavuniya, police said.

The violence came to be reported as the peace delegations of the government and the rebels left for Geneva, Switzerland to attend the talks held on Oct. 28 to 29.

Both sides are under intense international pressure to give up violence and sit down for face to face talks.

Over 2,500 people have been killed in the cycle of violence which began at the end of last year.

The talks are aimed at salvaging the Norwegian backed peace process in the island - the first step towards resolving the long drawn out separatist armed conflict.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2006)