COLOMBO, July 9 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan fighter jets destroyed a Tamil Tiger boat and damaged several others on Wednesday, the military said, while ground troops killed 19 rebels a day earlier in fighting in the north.

The government has claimed significant advances against Tamil Tiger rebels in the past 18 months, but clashes take place almost daily and analysts see no end in sight to a civil war that has dragged on for 25 years and claimed over 70,000 lives.

"The fighter jets engaged a fleet of LTTE boats off the Mullaittivu coast. One boat was completely destroyed and others damaged," said air force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, referring to the rebel held northern district.

The military said ground fighting a day earlier killed 19 Tamil Tiger rebels and injured 20,m, adding two government soldiers had died and 13 were injured.

The Liberation Tigers of tamil Eelam, fighting to create an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka for ethnic Tamils, a minority in the predominantly Sinhalese country, were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by David Fox)

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