Fighting on two fronts in northern Sri Lanka near the Tamil Tiger rebels' stronghold killed 10 insurgents and a soldier, the military said Monday. In Sunday's clashes six rebels and a soldier were killed in the Welioya region while four other guerrillas were killed on the Mannar front, the military said in a statement. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not be reached immediately for comment and it was not possible to get independent accounts of the clashes because reporters are not allowed in the war zone. Fighting has raged around the rebel defacto state in the north for the past several months with soldiers trying to break into the territory from four fronts. Encouraged by its military success last year, when the insurgents were driven away from their eastern strongholds, the government has vowed to crush the rebels by the end of this year. The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent homeland for minority ethnic Tamils, who have been marginalized for decades by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.