(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-22 23:12

COLOMBO -- The Sri Lankan military said that government troops killed 14 Tamil Tiger rebels in separate clashes with the rebels in the north on Thursday.

Defense officials said that six rebels were killed in an attack launched by the troops against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels at Muhamalai in the Jaffna peninsula at 2:00 am local time (2030 GMT).

Another five LTTE rebels were killed in a confrontation with the troops at Adamppan in the Mannar district around 11:00 am (0530 GMT).

Also in Mannar, three rebels were killed in an exchange of fire when a group of rebels tried to ambush the troops at Giant Tank around 9:00 am (0330 GMT).

Fighting between the two sides has been a daily occurrence in the north after the government claimed in July that the Eastern Province was free of rebels.

Claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinhala majority, the LTTE has been fighting the government since the mid-1980s to establish a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east.

More than 5,000 people have been killed in the new wave of violence since the end of 2005, making the Norwegian brokered ceasefire agreement exist only on paper.