Fighting in E. Ukraine kills 5, including 3 civilians

The Ukrainian authority said Thursday that five people, including three civilians, were killed in the past 24 hours in Ukraine's conflict-torn eastern regions amid intensified fighting.

Ukraine's military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said that two government soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded in clashes with pro-independence rebels in the past day.

"Given the intensification of the hostilities, increasing provocations and the use of heavy weapons by the enemy, the Ukrainian forces suffered losses in almost all areas across the line of contact," Lysenko said.

Ukrainian army positions have been shelled with 152mm caliber artillery, tanks and mortars. Such weapons were to have been withdrawn from the front line under the Minsk cease-fire agreement, he said.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian section of the center for cease-fire control and coordination said that at least three civilians were killed and three others wounded during overnight shelling in the outskirts of Gorovka city, one of the main rebel bastions.

Both sides blamed each other for being responsible for the incident, which marked the first civilian deaths in the conflict zone in almost a week.

The insurgents have not commented on their casualties in the past day.

Since fighting erupted in eastern Ukraine between government troops and rebels in April 2014, more than 6,400 people have been killed.

The death toll continues to rise despite the cease-fire agreement, under which the two sides agreed to halt hostilities and withdraw heavy weapons from the front line. Since the truce came into force in mid-February, the fighting has claimed the lives of more than 50 civilians and over 100 Ukrainian soldiers. Endi