COLOMBO, Aug 15, 2007 (AFP) - At least nine Tamil Tiger rebels and a government soldier were killed in sporadic clashes in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.

Six of the rebels were killed along a de facto border separating the rest of the country from rebel-held Wanni region on Tuesday, the ministry said adding that the soldier was killed during those clashes.

Another three members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were gunned down by security forces at Weli Oya, also on Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement.

The Tamil Tigers are fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in Sinhalese-majority Sri Lanka. The ethnic conflict has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972.

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