COLOMBO, May 19 (Reuters) - A family of five, including two young children, were hacked to death with a sword-like blade north of the capital Colombo overnight in what police said was an attack over a land dispute.

Land disputes in Sri Lanka, particularly in rural areas, have resulted in several bloody attacks in recent years, police said.

"Five people of the same family, including a four-year-old and five-year-old, were chopped to death using a sharp instrument, something like a sword," Senior Superintendent of Police Nihal Samarakoon told Reuters by phone on Saturday from the town of Kadawata, 12 miles (19 km) north of Colombo.

"It appears to be a land dispute. There was already a case pending in the courts."

A 12-year-old girl from the same family who was injured in the attack survived and was admitted to hospital with cut wounds, a hospital source said.

Sri Lanka is no stranger to grisly attacks and massacres, particularly as the death toll from a new chapter in a two-decade war between the state and Tamil Tiger separatist rebels rises daily, but the attack was not related to the conflict, police said.

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