COLOMBO, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military said on Wednesday five Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in artillery shelling and a gunbattle in the far north of the island, the latest in a renewed civil war.

Separately, soldiers found 9 kg (20lb) of explosives in a suburb of Colombo, which police said may have been brought by the Tamil Tigers to mount an attack on the capital.

"The military fired artillery at a gathering of LTTE who tried to infiltrate to Jaffna. Later troops observed two bodies," said a spokesman for Media centre for National Security, referring to an overnight incident in the northern Jaffna district.

Soldiers killed three Tamil Tiger rebels in another clash in Vavuniya district, also in the north.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were not immediately available for comment.

The Tigers say they are fighting for an independent state for minority ethnic Tamils in the north and east.

An estimated 5,000 people have died since last year in renewed fighting after a peace process collapsed.

AlertNet news is provided by