COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: Army troops killed a Tamil Tiger rebel near the northern defense line in Sri Lanka's volatile Jaffna peninsula Tuesday, the military said.
Soldiers attacked a group of insurgents who were observing the movement of troops near Muhamalai, a border post that divides government and rebel-held areas, in Jaffna peninsula, said Lt. Col. Upali Rajapakse, a senior military officer.
He said troops killed one insurgent while other rebels fled the area.
Also Tuesday, suspected rebels stopped a state-owned bus in Jaffna town, ordered the passengers to disembark, then set it on fire, said Rajapakse.
Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka's main town, is under government control, but Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam guerrillas operate in the area.
No immediate comment was available from the rebels, who are fighting for an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, in a civil war that is worsening despite international pressure for calm.
Troops and rebels exchange sporadic artillery and mortar fire across the defense line in Jaffna peninsula, the heartland of the island nation's 3.1 million Tamils who have faced decades of discrimination by the predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese majority.
The Sinhalese account for more than 70 percent of the country's 20 million people and dominate its government and military.
A 2002 cease-fire brought a measure of relief, but has collapsed in the last 19 months, existing now only on paper, leaving an estimated 5,000 more people dead.
Nearly 70,000 people have been killed since Sri Lanka's war began in 1983.
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