COLOMBO, April 8: Sri Lankan stepped up security on Sunday over fears of bomb attacks ahead of the traditional New Year festivities this week while the military said six rebels and a soldier were killed in fresh fighting.

A government soldier was killed in a confrontation with Tamil Tiger rebels in the north of the island on Saturday, the military said in a statement. It said three guerillas were also killed.

In a similar skirmish in the eastern district of Batticaloa, three Tiger rebels were shot dead and their bodies were captured by the security forces, the military said in a statement.

The latest clashes came hours after suspected Tiger rebels set off a powerful roadside bomb against a civilian bus in the island's north on Saturday, killing eight people and wounding 25.

Sniffer dogs were deployed at main bus stations on Sunday to guard against explosives being planted following a separate parcel bomb attack last week aboard a bus in which 17 people were killed and 25 wounded in the eastern district of Ampara.—AFP