By DPA
Colombo : Seven Tamil rebels and at least two soldiers were killed in a series of clashes and bombings in northern Sri Lanka, military officials said Tuesday.
One soldier was killed in a roadside claymore mine explosion in Puvarasankulam, Vavuniya, 240 km north of the capital, Tuesday and another soldier was killed when a booby trap went off in Jaffna, 390 km north of the capital, Monday.
Tamil rebels said they attacked an army guard post, killing at least five soldiers in Vavuniya Tuesday, but the military has not confirmed the incident so far.
Rebel spokesman Rasiha Illanthiriyan said in a statement that the guard post at Weerapuram in Vavuniya was attacked by the rebels.
The military claimed they killed seven rebels in separate incidents in Jaffna and Vavuniya. Three of them were killed when troops destroyed a row of bunkers in Jaffna while the others were killed in smaller incidents.
In Vavuniya a parcel bomb believed to be meant to target security force personnel exploded but caused no injuries.
Fighting in northern Sri Lanka has escalated during the past four months while the death toll in two years of clashes has now exceeded 5,600.
Clashes renewed in December 2005 after rebels stepped up attacks against the security forces, effectively ending a Norwegian-backed truce. Since then the military has also stepped up operations against the rebels.
Before the ceasefire commenced in February 2002 more than 70,000 had been killed in the two-decade-old ethnic clashes.