COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Aug 16, SPA -- Government forces killed eight separatist Tamil Tiger rebels during a gunbattle in northern Sri Lanka, officials said Wednesday, as airstrikes and exchanges of artillery continued to threatenthe country's fragile cease-fire. The rebels attacked naval ground forces who were searching late Tuesday for hidden weapons caches and ammunition in the northern port of Jaffna, a few kilometers (miles) from where soldiers and insurgents have clashed in recent days, a Defense Ministry official was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/383175