Keheliya Rambukwella, a minister and government’s defence spokesman, claimed the rebels had used the ceasefire to strengthen themselves militarily and “to continue their terrorist activities.”

“Considering the ground realities, it (the rebel’s offer) looks hilarious,” he said.

His comments come a day after the rebels’ political wing chief B Nadesan said the Tigers were “ready to implement every clause” of the Norway-brokered truce and respect it “100 per cent.”

“We are shocked and disappointed that the government of Sri Lanka has unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire agreement signed in 2002,” Nadesan said in a statement, the first public reaction to the government’s decision.

A new wave of fighting and attacks nationwide has killed at least 204 people — 195 rebels, six soldiers and three civilians — since the government withdrew from a 2002 ceasefire on January 3, according to the military.

The government announced last week it ended the ceasefire, saying growing violence in the last two years had rendered it irrelevant. The truce formally becomes invalid on January 16.