COLOMBO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The rebels in Sri Lanka said at least 16 civilians were killed in a claymore mine attack by the Army in the north Friday afternoon, but the military has denied any involvement in the incident.

    The Peace Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said in a statement that 16 civilians, including four children, were killed as the van they were traveling in came under a claymore attack by the Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Army at 2 p.m. (0830 GMT).

    The incident took place on the Akkarayan-Murukandy road in the rebel held Kilinochchi district, the statement said.

    "Nineteen members of an extended family were traveling in that van, 16 of them were killed and the other three were injured," the statement added.

    However, military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the Army cannot be held responsible for the incident as it happened in an rebel held area about 100 km north from government troops' forward defense line.

    Nanayakkara said the Army's DPUs only carry out some information-gathering mission very close to the troops' positions and it's impossible for them to go so deep into the rebel controlled area to attack civilians.

    Government troops are currently battling the LTTE in the north with the aim of crushing the rebel group before the end of 2008.

    Claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese government, the LTTE has been fighting 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.