2 killed, 13 wounded in latest E. Ukraine confrontation

At least two people were killed and 13 others wounded in the confrontation between government troops and independence-seeking insurgents in eastern Ukraine in the past day, officials from the conflicting parties said Tuesday.

The government military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said that one Ukrainian army serviceman was killed and nine others wounded during the combat with rebels in the past 24 hours.

"The enemy frequently used the mortars -- over the past day they fired 150 mortar shells at our positions. There were no calm sectors along the frontline," Lysenko told reporters during a media briefing.

Meanwhile, a senior insurgent commander Eduard Basurin said that one pro-independence fighter was killed and two others were injured in the clashes with the government army in the last 24 hours.

Besides, two civilians living in the insurgent-controlled Donetsk were wounded during the shelling on the city's outskirts, Basurin added.

The upsurge in fighting, which started in mid-May after more than half-year of a relative lull, marked a new wave of escalation of the 26-month-old conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has killed more than 9,300 people so far.

Ukrainian analysts believe that a lack of consensus between the confronting sides regarding holding local elections in the rebel-controlled areas is the main factor behind the escalation. Endit