Sri Lankan battles kill 32 Tamil rebels

A wave of battles across Sri Lanka's northern region has killed 32 ethnic Tamil rebels and two government soldiers, the military says.

Fighting has escalated on the Indian Ocean island in recent months, with the military intensifying ground assaults and air strikes on rebels in line with a government pledge to capture rebel held territory and crush the insurgents by the end of the year.

The latest fighting took place in the Vavuniya, Mannar and Welioya regions bordering the rebels' de facto northern state on Thursday, a defence ministry official said.

Several battles in Mannar left 24 guerrillas and two soldiers dead, he said. Twenty-five rebels and 10 soldiers were wounded.

Other battles in Vavuniya and Welioya killed eight rebels, and wounded 12 Tamil Tiger fighters and four soldiers, the official said.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not immediately be reached for comment.

Each side commonly exaggerates its enemy's casualties and downplays its own.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to create an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils, who have been marginalised by successive governments controlled by ethnic Sinhalese. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

The government has vowed to end the insurgency by the end of this year but the island's army chief, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, told reporters that it may take another year to defeat the rebels.