COLOMBO (AP): Battles between Sri Lankan forces and Tamil Tiger fighters along the northern front lines of their civil war killed 19 rebels and two soldiers, the military said Tuesday.

In the fighting Monday, troops killed 11 rebels in the Vavuniya region bordering the Tamil Tigers' de facto state in the north, while in Jaffna a confrontation killed one soldier and wounded six others, the military said in a statement.

Separate battles in Welioya killed seven guerrillas and one soldier, while in Mannar one rebel was killed, the military said.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not immediately be reached for comment.

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

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