COLOMBO, May 24: At least 13 rebels and one soldier have been killed in fresh fighting in Sri Lanka’s restive north, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

The latest reported deaths followed rebel accusations that government forces had killed 20 civilians in separate attacks in the north on Friday.

The Tamil Tiger rebels said the government attacks included the detonation of mine that blew up a minibus packed with civilians near the rebels’ base of Kilinochchi, killing 16 people.

The military denied on Saturday the accusation that it had targeted civilians and accused the rebels of trying to “tarnish” the army’s image to win international sympathy.

But the rebels’ political arm, the Tamil National Alliance, accused the government of carrying out attacks against civilians.

“We vehemently condemn the cowardly and brutal attack of the Sri Lankan government on civilians. The government has again clearly proved that it never gives up its anti-democratic violence against Tamils,” the TNA said.

The deaths of the 13 rebels and one soldier occurred on Friday in ground fighting across the north, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The reported deaths brought to 3,834 the number of rebels the government says it has killed since the start of the year when it pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered truce with the Tigers.

—AFP