COLOMBO, Aug 30: At least 19 persons were killed on Wednesday and Thursday in separate clashes in the volatile north-east, officials said as the Tamil Tiger rebels claimed fresh artillery attacks were launched by the military in guerilla controlled areas in northern Mannar.

Military sources said security forces shot dead eight members of the LTTE in the northern Jaffna peninsula when they tried to break into military defence lines while two members of the anti LTTE political party, the EPDP was killed by suspected LTTE gunmen in the east.

Separately source said four rebels were shot dead by troops in northern Vavuniya with at least five persons gunned down in the east, military officials said.

Meanwhile, a report jointly compiled by three leading civil society organisations in Sri Lanka, the Law & Society Trust, the Civil Monitoring Commission and the Free Media Movement have stated that at least 547 civilians have been killed and 396 gone missing in government controlled areas in Sri Lanka this year.