Nine killed in Sri Lanka's civil war

Gunbattles between rebels and the Sri Lankan military left at least seven Tamil Tigers and two civilians dead.

The guerrillas were killed when troops attacked their camp, near Nagarkovil in the northern Jaffna Peninsula, said Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne, the defense ministry spokesman.

Jaffna, 185 miles north of Colombo, is the main battle theatre in the country's 18-year insurrection.

In the eastern district of Batticaloa, two civilians were killed when they were caught in crossfire between government forces and rebels on Friday.

Batticaloa is nearly 145 miles east of Colombo. There was no immediate comment by the rebels.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting a separatist war for the minority Tamils since 1983.

They say that 3.2 million Tamils need a homeland to prosper away from the domination of Sinhalese who are 14 million of the country's 18.6 million people.