Brussels - Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil Tiger rebels (LTTE) should lay down their arms and return to peace talks, European Union foreign ministers said in a joint statement Monday.

The 27-member bloc "remains convinced that the long-standing conflict in Sri Lanka cannot be resolved by military means" and "calls on the LTTE to lay down its arms and to renounce terrorism and violence once and for all," the statement said.

The appeal followed a weekend of bloodshed, with military officials saying that the LTTE had killed at least 21 civilians in a raid on a majority-Sinhalese village on Saturday.

That attack followed an abortive attempt by rebels to carry out airstrikes on air force headquarters, during which two aircraft were downed by anti-aircraft fire, killing the two rebel pilots.

Even if the Sri Lankan government appears to be winning its latest campaign against the insurgents, "a military defeat of the LTTE will only re-emphasize the need to find a political solution in order to ensure a lasting peace," the EU statement stressed.

On Tuesday, the UN's agency for children, UNICEF, warned that the Tamil rebels had intensified forcible recruitment of civilians, including children as young as 14.

The LTTE should "end the inhuman use of child soldiers and forced recruitment." The government must "take decisive action to tackle human rights abuses, guarantee press freedom and disarm paramilitary groups in government-controlled areas," the EU statement said.

The EU's foreign ministers also called on both sides in the conflict to declare a ceasefire, allow civilians to leave the battlefield and guarantee international humanitarian groups full access to the conflict zone. (dpa)