Eight killed in army, rebel clashes in Sri Lanka

Colombo, Apr 8: A suspected Tamil Tiger claymore mine ambush killed one Sri Lankan army soldier and injured others today, a day after at least six rebels and one soldier were killed in firefights, the government said.

The violence extends a string of almost daily clashes between the rebels and the military in a war that started more than two decades ago and has intensified over the past year.

''One soldier was killed, two were slightly injured,'' army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said of the mine blast.

The claymore mine attack targeted a passing foot patrol in the northern district of Jaffna and was carried out by the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, he said.

The Tigers were not immediately available for comment, but pro-Tiger Web site Tamilnet said ''unknown attackers'' had targeted the troops and six soldiers were injured.

The Tigers are fighting to create an independent state.

Yesterday, soldiers killed at least three LTTE fighters in a firefight after an army foot patrol was shot at during a sweep and clear operation in the northern area of Vavuniya, the government said in a statement.

One soldier was killed and three were injured in the fighting, and the government said it expected more Tamil Tigers had died.

Soldiers on patrol in the eastern district of Batticaloa also killed three rebels in a similar shootout yesteday, the government said.

Earlier yesterday, a claymore mine hit a public bus in Vavuniya, and Samarasinghe said today the toll rose to nine dead and 24 injured after one person died in hospital.

The government pinned the blame on the Tigers, who denied involvement and said the attack was an army plot to ruin their image. A similar bus attack on Monday killed 16.

The war that started in 1983 has killed 68,000 troops, rebels and civilians. More than 4,000 people have died in the past 15 months alone.

REUTERS

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