COLOMBO, Aug 21, 2007 (AFP) - Government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels exchanged artillery fire in northern Sri Lanka Tuesday as five people were killed in other violence, military officials and rebels said.

Security forces were firing multi-barrel rocket launchers towards positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Jaffna peninsula, officials said.

The pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website said there had been long-range attacks on Monday night too, but there were no reports of casualties.

Elsewhere, three soldiers were killed and several others injured Tuesday when the LTTE launched a mortar attack on troops in the northeastern district of Vavuniya, the defence ministry said.

Further north in Jaffna, suspected rebels fired at two local aid workers, killing one and injuring the other on Monday, Tamilnet.com said.

Unidentified gunmen also shot dead a parliamentarian's brother in the eastern district of Batticaloa late Monday, the defence ministry said, blaming the killing on the LTTE.

There was no immediate comment from the LTTE which is fighting for a separate homeland for the island's Tamil minority.

More than 5,200 people have been killed in renewed fighting since December 2005.

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