Forty-four Tamil Tigers and two soldiers were killed in fierce clashes between the rebels and security forces in the embattled northern Sri Lanka [Images], where fighting has intensified since the government pulled out of a six-year-old ceasefire pact with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam this month.

At Pallikulam area in Vavuniya district, eight Tamil rebels were killed in an encounter with government forces on Sunday, the defence ministry said.

At Nagarkovil defence lines in Jaffna, 15 Tigers were killed and over 30 wounded in a pre-dawn clash between government troops and the LTTE on Sunday, the ministry said.

Two soldiers also lost their lives while nine others were wounded during the hour-long confrontation, it said.

At Janakpura in north-eastern Welioya, two rebels were killed when troops launched a attack on an LTTE tractor on Sunday, the army said adding, one soldier was injured during the operation and another went missing.

Three rebels were gunned down in Maduwallama area in north-western Mannar and four were killed in another attack at Madu in the same region on Sunday, it said.

At Waittankulam in Vavuniya, four LTTE rebels, including three women cadres, were gunned down by troops in a fierce clash on Sunday, the Media Centre for National Security said adding, six soldiers were injured.

At Pullipankiyarkulem in Vavuniya, troops gunned down seven Tamil Tigers in an encounter on Sunday, while one LTTE rebel was killed in Parikariperiyakulam area in the same district.

Meanwhile, the pro-LTTE Web site Tamilnet claimed that the "sniper unit" of the LTTE shot and killed two Sri Lankan soldiers and injured "more" in a clash at Pandivirichchan in Mannar on Sunday.

It said the LTTE suffered no casualties during the incident.