Colombo: At least 16 LTTE rebels, including a woman, were among 22 people killed in a series of clashes in Sri Lanka s embattled north, officials said here today.

An LTTE rebel was killed in pre-emptive strikes by security forces at Nawathkulam in Wanni yesterday, security sources said.

In Vavuniya, a woman rebel was killed yesterday when a group of LTTE cadres clashed with troops, the Army said.

In a separate incident, suspected LTTE gunmen shot dead two Tamil civilians at Muruganur in northern Vavuniya yesterday, the police said.

According to reports, both the victims earlier belonged to PLOTE, a militant Tamil group which entered into mainstream politics shedding extreme tribal ideologies.

In another incident, two alleged LTTE pistol group members riding a motorbike shot dead a member of the breakaway Karuna faction on Monday at Kaththankudi in Batticaloa, the police said today. LTTE cadres killed the father of an activist of the former People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) at Muruganur in northern Vavuniya, the Army said. Two by-standers also died in the incident.

At Welioya in north-eastern Sri Lanka, troops killed one rebel while two LTTE cadres were shot dead in pre-emptive strikes by security forces at Nagarkovil forward defence line in northern Jaffna. The Army destroyed four LTTE bunkers at Muhamalai forward defence line in Jaffna, killing at least eight Tiger rebels yesterday, the Defence Ministry said.

At least three LTTE cadres were killed when troops launched artillery attacks on the militants breaching the forward defence line at Karampikulam in Wanni yesterday.

Source : PTI