Sporadic clashes in Sri Lanka claim 30 more lives: Military

COLOMBO: Sporadic fighting across Sri Lanka's war-torn north has left at least 29 Tamil Tiger rebels and one government soldier dead, the defence ministry said Friday. The deaths came amid separate clashes across Weli Oya, Mannar, Jaffna and Vavuniya on Thursday, the ministry said, adding that three soldiers were also injured.

The ministry said five rebels were killed after troops blew up a tractor-trailer they were using in Vavuniya, while another 15 died in the region in other clashes. The soldier was killed at Weli Oya. There was no immediate comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, whose armed struggle for an independent homeland for minority Tamils has left tens of thousands of people dead since 1972.

The government claims it has killed 2,241 rebels since January against the loss of 131 of it own troops. Both sides are known to offer wildly fluctuating claims that cannot be independently verified as the government bars reporters and rights groups from travelling to the frontline.