Three civilians, two Ukrainian soldiers killed in violence

Three civilians and two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in separate incidents in the past 24 hours in eastern Ukraine, where government forces are confronting a rebellion by Russian-backed separatists, the Ukrainian military said on Thursday.

Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 13 other servicemen were wounded in attacks by separatists using heavy weapons in violation of a ceasefire agreed in February. He gave no more details.

The three civilians were killed near Gorlivka, which is in separatist-held territory north of the big regional city of Donetsk.