COLOMBO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan soldiers killed nine Tamil Tiger rebels in two different clashes in the island's north, the military said on Monday.

The violence in the northern district of Vavuniya is the latest in a spate of land and sea clashes, ambushes and air raids between the armed forces and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.

A spokesman at the Media Centre for National Security said seven rebels were killed and a large number were wounded in fighting west of Omanthai in Vavuniya.

The military said one soldier was killed and eight wounded in the fighting while another two rebels died in the second clash in the same district.

An estimated 4,500 people have died since last year in renewed fighting after a peace process collapsed.

The civil war erupted in 1983 about 70,000 people have died and hundreds of thousands displaced.

The Tigers, who say they are fighting for an independent state for minority ethnic Tamils in the north and east, were not immediately available for comment on the latest violence.

Fighting between the state and rebels is now focused in the north after the military evicted the Tigers from their last stronghold in the east. However, analysts see no clear winner on the horizon and fear the fighting could grind on for years.

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