Sri Lankan troops attacked a group of separatist Tamil Tigers in the northern conflict zone and killed at least five of the rebels, the defence ministry said Sunday.
The soldiers attacked about 30 members of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Etawetunuwewa area overnight Saturday, the ministry said.
It said intercepts of rebel radio communications suggested at least four rebels were killed, but that the military believed up to 10 Tiger cadres had either been killed or seriously wounded in the fighting.
On the same day, troops shot dead a Tiger activist at Nagarkovil, the ministry added, but did not say if there were casualties among government troops.
Meanwhile, authorities at a prison in the northern peninsula of Jaffna shifted 14 members of the security forces who are murder suspects over growing tensions with other inmates, local officials said.
The troops were moved to a military camp after Tamil prisoners threatened to riot.
The LTTE is leading a drawn out campaign for independence in the island's northern and eastern regions. More than 60,000 people have been killed in the fighting in the past two decades
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