Sri Lanka'sTamiI Tigers said yesterday they had killed 10 soldiers while security forces said they killed 35 rebels during the latest heavy clashes across the island's north.

Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said the.clashes took place Wednesday in the Vavuniya, Mannar, Welioya and Jaffna areas bordering the rebels' de facto state inthenorth.

In the worst battle, soldiers killed 20 insurgents in Vavuniya and five soldiers were wounded, he

said. Clashes in the nearby Mannar district killed 11 rebels and wounded one soldier, while other battles in Jaffna and Welioya killed four rebels and one soldier, he said.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah llanthirayan was not immediately available for comment.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said their fighters had beaten back an army attempt to break through their forward defence lines near Vavuniya during a six-hour battle on Wednesday.

'The Sri Lanka army has sul fered casualties, at least 10 killed

the LTTE was quoted as saying by the pro-rebel Tamilnet com website.The rebels did not disclose details about thei r own casual ties.

It was not possible to independently verify the military's claims because journalists are banned from the northern jungles where much of the fighting takes place. Each side commonly exaggerates its enemy's casualties and playsdown its own.

The government has pledged to capture rebel-held territory and to crush die insurgents by the end of the year.

The Tamil Tiger rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent state for minority ethnic Tamils, who have been marginalised by successive governments controlled by majority Sinhalese. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.