Sri Lanka's defence ministry has claimed its forces have killed at least 20 Tamil Tiger rebels in renewed clashes in the north, but came in for a fresh warning against seeking a military solution.

The ministry said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTIT) rebels died in three separate clashes on Monday afternoon, bringing to at least 216 the number of guerrillas it has claimed to have killed since the beginningof the month.

Only a handful of government soldiers have been reported killed or injured in thesameperiod.

No independent confirmation of the dc fen ce m i n isiry cl a im s we re available, and journalists are barred from frontline areas. There was also no immediate word from the ETTE.

The latest government claim of heavy casualties came as the British high commissioner to Colombo, Dominick Chilcott, urged the government to reconsider its view that the long-running civil war can be won.