Colombo: The Sri Lankan military says police commandoes have killed 13 Tamil Tiger rebels in the country's eastern region.

Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara says police Special Task Force officers attacked a group of rebels hiding in a forest in the eastern Ampara district on Friday.
He says police have found 13 bodies of Tamil Tigers in the area.

The government claimed to have driven the rebels out of the east two years ago, but pockets of Tamil Tiger fighters remain.

Tamil rebels have been fighting for a separate state for the minority Tamils since 1983. Fighting has killed more than 70,000 peop