COLOMBO, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan military said Sunday 25 Tamil Tigers rebels and eight soldiers were killed in Saturday's clashes between government troops and the rebels in the north.

    The Media Center for National Security officials said that at least five confrontations between government troops and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels took place in the Welioya district.

    At least 25 rebels were killed and more than 18 others injured while eight soldiers were killed and more than 13 others injured in the battles, the military said.

    Earlier, the military said two aircraft of rebels bombed government troops' positions in the northeastern Welioya area early Sunday morning, but failed to cause any casualties.

    Welioya is one of the major battlefields between the troops and the rebels in the north.

    The LTTE said the rebels confronted Army units who launched a large-scale offensive push in the area on Saturday.

    The battles came three days after a fierce battle between the two sides in the northern Jaffna peninsula with more than 200 people being killed in both sides.

    Having taken over control of the Eastern Province last July, Sri Lanka's security forces are currently battling LTTE rebels in the north with an aim to crush them before the end of 2008.

    Claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese government, the LTTE has been fighting against the government since the mid-1980s to establish an independent homeland for Tamil minorities, resulting in the death of more than 70,000 people in the island.

    Military sources said more than 3,000 combatants have been killed from both sides so far this year. 

Bomb victims compensated in Sri Lanka

    COLOMBO, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government has begun paying compensation to the victims of Friday evening's bomb attack, which was blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said on Sunday..

    "We have already paid compensation to 11 victims," A. C. N. Razak, secretary to the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Resettlement said.   Full story

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers launch air raids in northeast

    COLOMBO, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Two aircraft of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels bombed government troops' positions in the northeastern Welioya area early Sunday morning but failed to causeany casualty, said the military.

    Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said two light aircraft of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) dropped three bombs at the Forward Defense Line of the troops in Welioya, about 280 km northeast of the capital Colombo, around 1:43 a.m. (2013 GMT Saturday).

    Nanayakkara said the air raids caused no casualty among government troops or civilians and no property damage was recorded.  Full story

Fierce fighting kills 90 in N Sri Lanka

    COLOMBO, April 23 (Xinhua) -- At least 52 Tamil Tiger rebels and 38 government soldiers were killed in a major confrontation in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula Wednesday morning, officials said.

    The Army said in a statement that clashes between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and government troops broke out minutes after late midnight Tuesday and culminated Wednesday morning.   Full story