COLOMBO, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Five Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in overnight clashes across Sri Lanka's embattled north, the defence ministry said Wednesday.

The military said they killed two rebels during artillery clashes across a key front line in the north late Tuesday. Troops on a clearing operation in the island's northern Wanni region also killed three rebels in a clash on Tuesday.

The ministry said security forces had recovered 14 boxes containing seven kilogrammes (15 pounds) of explosives near a railway line just outside the capital Colombo early Wednesday.

The two sides have been locked in combat since 1972, with the Tigers fighting for a separate state for minority Tamils. The 35-year-old ethnic conflict has claimed more than 60,000 lives.

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