COLOMBO, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Government troops destroyed several bunkers of rebel Tamil Tigers and killed at least six rebels, defense officials said Saturday.

    The bunkers belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were destroyed Saturday morning in northern Jaffna districts' Nagarkovil and Muhamalai areas, officials said.

    At least six rebel cadres were killed by the Army while four soldiers suffered injuries.

    In the northern Mannar district's Parappakandal and Adampan areas, a total of eight more LTTE bunkers were destroyed. At least three rebels were killed in the clashes which took place at around9 a.m. local time (0330 GMT), officials added.

    Meanwhile, the Army chief Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka visited the southern province's Yala national park Saturday morning to review the prevailing security situation there, officials said.

    The Yala National Park was re-opened on Tuesday for tourists after its closure since October when the LTTE rebels mounted an attack on a military detachment inside the park.

    Analysts note that the level of clashes between the government troops and the rebels is likely to escalate further with the government decision made on January 2 to abrogate the Norwegian backed cease-fire.

    The government has given notice to the Norwegian peace facilitators that they would withdraw from the five-year-long cease-fire on January 16.

    More than 70,000 people have been killed in the island's separatist armed conflicts since the mid 1980s.