COLOMBO, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - At least five people were killed and three injured in overnight clashes as Sri Lankan troops traded fire with Tamil Tiger rebels in the island's north, the defence ministry said Friday.

Four Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in two separate attacks when they exchanged fire with government troops late Thursday, the ministry said.

Separately, the rebels fired heavy mortars at security forces deployed in Thampanai in the northern Wanni region, killing one soldier and wounding another on Thursday, the military said.

More than 5,400 people have been killed in fighting since December 2005 in an ethnic conflict that has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972.

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