Seven Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in heavy fighting between government troops and the guerrillas in northern Sri Lanka on Thursday, an army spokesman said.
Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne said the rebels where killed when soldiers penetrated Tiger defences near Omanthai, about 11 kilometers (seven miles) north of the government-controlled town of Vavuniya, 300 kilometers north of here.
Karunaratne said radio transmissions by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) later confirmed seven rebels were killed. He said there were no government casualties.
He said LTTE guerrillas on Wednesday also conducted mortar bombardments of the towns of Nagerkovil, Nunavil and Eluthadaduval in northern Jaffna Peninsula despite the declaration of a month-long ceasefire by LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran on December 25.
No casualties had been reported so far.
The ceasefire was declared as a prelude to the commencement of peace talks with the Sri Lankan government.
The rebels' ceasefire offer was rejected by the government which said it was a ploy by the LTTE to rebuild and regroup.
The government said it was ready for immediate unconditional peace talks with the LTTE and that a ceasefire agreement could be reached after their commencement.
More than 55,000 people have been killed in the 15-year armed conflict between the LTTE rebels and the Sri Lankan army.
Meanwhile, a suspected LTTE militant was killed in clashes between two groups of prisoners in heavily guarded Kalutura prison about 45 kilometers south of Colombo.
Prison officials said the body a Tamil prisoner who was hacked to death was recovered from one of the cells on Thursday. The murder is being investigated by police, they said.
Kalutura houses large groups of Tiger prisoners taken into custody during the past few years -- COLOMBO (AFP)
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