COLOMBO, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 39 Tamil Tiger rebels and three government soldiers were killed over the weekend in northern Sri Lanka, said the military on Monday.

    Military Spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said 16 soldiers were injured in several clashes between government troops and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels on Saturday and Sunday.

    Earlier, the Army said they captured an LTTE entry/exit point on Uylankulam-Andankulam road in Mannar Saturday morning and the Kandeperamankulam camp in Vavuniya Saturday afternoon.

    Clashes between government troops and the LTTE have been largely shifted to the north after the government said in July that the entire Eastern Province was free of rebels.

    Claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinhala majority, the LTTE has been fighting the government since the mid-1980s to establish a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east.

    More than 5,000 people have been killed in the new wave of violence since the end of 2005, making the Norwegian brokered ceasefire agreement exist only on paper.