6 soldiers, 8 rebels killed in Sri Lanka

Six soldiers and eight Tamil rebels are killed in four separate incidents in the northern part of Sri Lanka.

Six soldiers and eight Tamil rebels were killed in four separate incidents in the northern part of Sri Lanka, a military spokesman said on Friday.

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The six soldiers were killed when they were inspecting mines, which had already been removed from an area where civilians are to be resettled in Vavuniya, 240 km north of the capital.

A group of de-mining soldiers had cleared a highly mined civilian area and left them to be inspected and defused when one of the mines exploded, the spokesman said.

Earlier, the military reported that eight rebels were killed in three separate clashes in the Vavuniya area on Thursday.

Sporadic fighting in the north of Sri Lanka has escalated during the past month with more than 500 people dead.