A spokesman for the military denied they'd carried out the attacks.

Fighting is continuing between the rebels and government forces in the past few days. Clashes on the island has intensified since the government pulled out of a ceasefire with the rebels earlier this year.

The Tamil Tigers say the attacks on civilians took place seven hours apart in two locations in the area they control in northern Sri Lanka. According to a statement on the rebels website both the bombs targeted people travelling in trailers being pulled by tractors.

Eight civilians killed

The Tigers said eight civilians were killed and they blamed the Sri Lankan army.

But the military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, denied they were responsible he did admit though that so called, deep penetration units, are operating behind the rebels lines.

Last week the Tigers claimed an air strike killed eight civilians, three of them children and the air force said the target they hit was a base of the rebels naval wing.

Meanwhile the military say nine rebels were killed in fighting on the frontlines in the north on Wednesday.

It raises the number of Tigers killed by security forces since Tuesday to twenty four.

1660 Tigers killed in 2008

Defence ministry say, 1,660 rebels have been killed so far this year. The security forces estimate the Tigers' strength at the beginning of the year at 3,000 and revised it to 5,000 combatants this month.

The ministry says 94 soldiers and police have also been killed in 2008.

Casualty figures provided by both sides differ significantly and cannot be independently verified as journalists are not allowed in conflict areas.

Journalists and human rights workers have restricted access to the front line and there are no independent media operating from rebel-held areas.