At least 12 people were killed when Tamil Tiger rebels and government troops clashed in northeastern Sri Lanka today, military officials said.
They said two civilians, two soldiers, a policeman and a paramilitary guard were killed when rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ambushed a government patrol near the village of Gomarankadawela in northeastern Trincomalee.
"After the ambush troop reinforcements pursued the fleeing members of the LTTE and killed at least four of them", said military spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne, adding two more soldiers had diedin the second skirmish.
He said the patrol had been on a routine road clearing mission and that the civilians were bystanders.
An estimated 64,000 people have been killed since 1983 when the LTTE began fighting since for a separate state for minority Tamils in the country's north and east.