Troops backed by artillery combed the jungles of Thoppigala in the district of Batticaloa, where security forces recovered weapons and explosives from a rebel hideout Thursday, the military said.

Officials said several soldiers were wounded in clashes Wednesday in the region.

The defence ministry said two members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed by security forces in the northern peninsula of Jaffna on Wednesday evening.

The International Red Cross resumed work on Sri Lanka's battle-scarred front lines on Wednesday as 16 people died in fresh violence, officials said.

Sri Lankan air force jets Wednesday bombed a base of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Puthukkudiriruppu, a town in the northeast of the island, the defence ministry said without providing further details.

The government's military spokesman, Prasad Samarasinghe, said four soldiers were killed Wednesday morning and another wounded in clashes with Tamil rebels in Madhu in the northwest of the country. He said two rebels were killed.

In the northern frontier town of Vavuniya, the defence ministry said another soldier was killed when an army sentry point was shelled by suspected Tamil Tigers late Tuesday.

The defence ministry said nine rebels were killed in clashes with security forces along the northeastern front line of Weli Oya since Tuesday. There were no casualties on the military side, the ministry said.