COLOMBO, Nov 13, 2007 (AFP) - At least 12 people including two civilians died in fighting in Sri Lanka's troubled northern and eastern regions, the defence ministry said Tuesday.

Troops shot dead four members of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) along the de facto frontline with guerrilla-held territory at Vavuniya in the north of the island on Monday, the ministry said.

It said six more Tigers were killed in two clashes elsewhere in the north and the east in the 24 hours ending Tuesday noon.

The civilians were gunned down by suspected Tamil rebels in the northern Jaffna peninsula on Monday, the ministry said.

It did not say if troops suffered any casualties in the various clashes with Tiger rebels.

Tens of thousands of people have died since the conflict began in 1972. Fighting has escalated since December 2005, when a Norwegian-brokered truce began to unravel.

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