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Government, rebel clashes leave 16 dead in Sri Lanka

Intensified fighting between government troops and Tamil rebels pushing for a breakaway state led to at least 16 more deaths in Sri Lanka's northern region, the military said.

Fourteen of those killed were rebels, one was a soldier and another a police officer.

The fighting is part of a major escalation in attacks between the two sides along the front lines surrounding the Tamil Tigers' de facto state in parts of the north. Officials say they are seeking to crush the rebels to end more than two decades of warfare.

Troops clashed with a group of rebels in the Welioya region on Thursday evening in a fight that killed one soldier, the military said.

Earlier, rebels detonated a roadside land mine as a patrol passed, killing a police officer, said Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, the military spokesman.

In two battles on Wednesday, troops killed nine rebels in the Muhamalai area of the Jaffna Peninsula, the military said on Thursday.

The army killed four more rebels in two other attacks in the area, while another rebel was killed in a confrontation in the Mannar district south of rebel areas, the military said.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilan-thirayan disputed those figures. Independent confirmation of the casualties was not possible because the area is a restricted military zone.

Meanwhile, Japanese peace envoy Yasushi Akashi traveled to a peace conference of religious leaders in Jaffna. Akashi was not expected to launch any new peace initiatives during his visit.
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