Agence France-Presse,
At least five suspected Tamil Tiger rebels and three civilians have been killed in fresh violence in Sri Lanka, the military said Friday.
Security forces shot dead five members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a jungle area around the eastern lagoon town of Batticaloa on Thursday evening, officials said.
The Sri Lankan military is trying to oust the LTTE from the east — seen by the rebels as part of what should be their future separate state — and confine them to a single area in the north of the island.
Military officials also said three civilians were killed by unidentified gunmen in the northwestern coastal area of Mannar, where troops claimed they killed 20 Tiger rebels during a 24-hour period ending Thursday morning.
Thousands of people have been killed since a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire collapsed last year. In total, the 35-year-old ethnic conflict has claimed more than 60,000 lives.
