COLOMBO, June 22 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan soldiers have found 15 decomposing bodies of Tamil Tiger rebel fighters in jungles in the east of the island captured from the rebels, the military said on Friday.

The discovery on Thursday in a swathe of land-locked jungle called Thoppigala, where Tiger rebels are hemmed into ever-decreasing pockets by advancing troops, comes after weeks of fierce fighting in the area.

The military said earlier this week it killed around 30 Tigers in a clash in the area, but it was unclear whether the rebel bodies found on Thursday were from that battle.

"A search operation found 15 decomposed bodies in Thoppigala," said a spokesman for the Media Centre for National Security, declining to be named in line with policy.

"They have also found six T-56 (assault rifles), 96 anti-personnel land mines and some other weapons. Troops are clearing landmines in the area."

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had no immediate details, but a rebel spokesman said the bodies could be those of civilians killed by the military.

"There can be several possibilities. Several (civilians) who went to that area in search of cattle have disappeared. It could be the work of the military," Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan said by telephone from the rebels' northern base of Kilinochchi.

Troops and Tigers have fought a series of deadly land and sea battles in recent months amid a new chapter in a two-decade civil war that has killed nearly 70,000 people since 1983.

Around 4,500 people have been killed since last year alone.

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