The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Colombo

At least 31 Sri Lankan guerrillas and one soldier were killed in heavy fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels across the embattled north, the defence ministry said.

The rebels died in clashes Friday and early Saturday in the Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna districts bordering the de facto mini-state run by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the defence ministry said in a statement.

A government trooper was killed in Vavuniya late Friday, it said. The latest ministry figures raised the death toll since the start of the year to 469 rebels and 21 soldiers. The figures cannot be independently checked as no journalists or rights groups have access to the embattled areas.