The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Colombo

Sri Lankan troops killed 32 Tamil Tiger rebels in a series of clashes in the island's north, the military said on Wednesday.

One soldier was also killed and three others wounded in eight confrontations on Tuesday, said a military spokesman who asked not to be identified in line with government policy.

The military said they had also captured a rebel held area and destroyed Tamil Tiger bunkers along a 'border' that separates rebel-held from government territory in the northwestern district of Mannar.

The military has moved to capture areas in Mannar as part of a wider strategy to gradually retake the Tigers' northern stronghold.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who want to create an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka, were not immediately available for comment on the latest fighting.

Pro rebel Web site www.tamilnet.com said 60 soldiers had been killed in heavy fighting on Sunday and Monday in Mannar.

The military denied the rebel claim.

The government and rebels trade death toll claims that are rarely possible to independently verify. An estimated 70,000 people have died since the civil war began in 1983.

AFP report adds: A pro-government militia of Tamil Tiger defectors has swept to victory in the first local elections in Sri Lanka's restive east in 14 years, official results showed Tuesday.

The armed Tamil People's Liberation Party (TMVP), which broke away from the main separatist movement, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, won 72 of the 101 council seats in Monday's vote in the district of Batticaloa.

The government-backed TMVP had been widely expected to win the vote as it had been calling the shots in the troubled region since security forces drove out the main Tamil Tiger rebels eight months ago.

Colombo plans to use Monday's polls here as a curtain-raiser for a larger provincial council election later in the year to allow Tamils, who are in the minority nationally but a majority in Batticaloa, to have greater autonomy.

"This peaceful election underlines the aim of the government to create an environment in which all our people could live in freedom and harmony," Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said in a statement.