Sri Lankan troops have killed another 19 Tamil liger rebels and lost two of their own soldiers in fresh fighting in the island's north, the defence ministry said yesterday.

Troops killed the 19 members of the l iberation ligers ol Tamil Eelam (LITE) and wounded 27 others in the districts of Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Jaffna on Saturday, the ministry said.

A total of 13 government soldiers were also wounded in Satuiday'sclashes.

There was no immediate word from the LITE on the latest violence. However, the 'Tigers released pictures of their elusive leader Velupillai Prabhakaran commemorating his suicide bombers on the 21st anniversary of the first suicide attack by his guerrillas.

I he Tigers have deployed over 250 suic ide bombers, known as Black l igers, to carry out devastat* ing attacks since July 1987

I he defence ministry's latest claims of casualties takes the number of rebels reported killed hy government troops since the beginning of the year to 4,755 against the loss ol 427 soldiers.

Government figures cannot be independently verified as journalists are barred from visiting frontline areas.

Meanwhile, Sri l^nka's Tamil Tigers on Sunday commemorated 356 men and women who have staged suicide attacks since the tactic was first used by the rebels21 years ago.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of lamil Eelam (LITE) said they held ceremonies in guerrilla-held Wanni region on Saturday to mark the 21st anniversary of the first suicide truck bombing by a cadre known as Captain Miller.

The elusive Tiger supremo, Velupillai Prabhakaran, 53, led the remembrance ceremonies at an undisclosed location with the participation of his elite "Black Tiger" suicide cadres, the pro-rebel Tamilnet corn web site reported.

"Three hundred and fifty six Black Tigers have laid down their lives, 254 of them in sea operations, during the last 21 years since," Tamilnet said.

Last year, the Tigers commemorated 322 suicide bombers who perished in attacks.

Their figures showed that 34 suicide bombers had carried out attacks in the past year An attack on a key air base in October was the worst, with 21 suicide bombers destroying a fleet of aircraft.

One rebel later returned to the north with video footage of the attack, while the others were shot dead or blew themselves up