The Sri Lankan military said Sunday 25 Tamil Tigers rebels and eight soldiers were killed in Saturday's clashes between government troops and the rebels in the north.

The Media Center for National Security officials said that at least five confrontations between government troops and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels took place in the Welioya district.

At least 25 rebels were killed and more than 18 others injured while eight soldiers were killed and more than 13 others injured in the battles, the military said.

Earlier, the military said two aircraft of rebels bombed government troops' positions in the northeastern Welioya area early Sunday morning, but failed to cause any casualties.

Welioya is one of the major battlefields between the troops and the rebels in the north.

The LTTE said the rebels confronted Army units who launched a large-scale offensive push in the area on Saturday.

The battles came three days after a fierce battle between the two sides in the northern Jaffna peninsula with more than 200 people being killed in both sides.

Having taken over control of the Eastern Province last July, Sri Lanka's security forces are currently battling LTTE rebels in the north with an aim to crush them before the end of 2008.

Claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese government, the LTTE has been fighting against the government since the mid-1980s to establish an independent homeland for Tamil minorities, resulting in the death of more than 70,000 people in the island.

Military sources said more than 3,000 combatants have been killed from both sides so far this year.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2008)