(Xinhua) -- At least 12 soldiers were killed and 51 others injured Sunday in clashes between the government troops and the Tamil Tiger rebels in eastern Sri Lanka, defense officials said. Prasad Samarasinghe, the military spokesman said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels had fired mortars and artillery fire at the military presence at Kajuwatta in the eastern Batticaloa district. He said the military had retaliated with heavy fire towards the rebels and they may have also suffered heavy casualties. Samarasinghe also said that the LTTE had continued mortar and artillery fire from Vakarai region in the east on the majority Sinhala community villages of Somapura, Sirimangalapura, Serupura and Mahindapura in the multi-ethnic district. More than 2,000 civilians were displaced while two soldiers and a civilian were killed in the attacks on Saturday. The rebel mortar and artillery fire on the villages began on Dec. 7.
The LTTE sources said that the troops advanced well into their territory and the retaliatory fire caused the deaths of at least five soldiers on Saturday with no casualties to them. They claimed that military mortars and artillery had landed on at least two refugee camps in areas under their control killing several civilians. On Thursday the rebel gun fire landed on a school killing at least four civilians including a teacher, which drew a condemnation from the U.S. government.
The international community has been appealing to both sides to stop violence and return to talks. The weekend clashes came after the Norwegian special peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer Friday failed to break the deadlock between the warring parties.