Sri Lanka clashes toll 'over 70'

Tighter security is in force since the peace accord was ended

The Sri Lankan military says more than 70 Tamil Tiger rebels and four soldiers have been killed since Saturday in clashes in the north of the island.

There is no independent confirmation of the figures. Both sides have been accused of exaggerating the casualties they have inflicted.

The Tigers' intelligence chief was killed in the north on Sunday.

Some 5,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the last two years of the country's protracted civil war.

Daily claims

The Ministry of Defence reported that nine rebels were killed in various incidents on Monday in the north.

Earlier the military said that more than 60 rebels were killed over the weekend in fighting in the districts of Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna in which four solders also died.

One of the dead in the Mannar clashes was the intelligence chief of the Tigers, known as Colonel Charles.

Last year the government declared that it had driven the Tamil Tigers from the east of the island.

Since then the fighting has been focussed on the north. Most days the government says it has killed a number of rebels.

In November, the head of the Tigers' political wing, SP Thamilselvan, was killed in an air raid.

The Tigers have also mounted some high-profile raids, including a land and air attack on an air base at Anuradhapura in which many planes were destroyed.

Last week the government formally pulled out of a ceasefire.

The Tamil Tigers are fighting for a Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka.