COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, March 30 (UPI) -- At least 13 people -- eight civilians and five soldiers -- have died in the latest fighting in Sri Lanka between the military and separatist Tamil Tigers.
The soldiers died Friday in a roadside blast that the army blamed on the Tigers, the BBC reported. The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for years to establish a separate state for the Tamil-speaking minority on the Indian Ocean island nation.
The civilians, including children, died in a mortar attack Thursday with the two sides blaming the other for the attack.
In other incidents, the Sri Lankan navy on Thursday sank three Tamil Tiger boats off the island's northeast coast, killing at least 15 rebels, the military said. Earlier in the week, a suicide bomber killed at least seven people, the BBC report said quoting army officials.
