A police officer checks the identity of a man during an operation in Mannar, about 312 km (194 miles) north of Colombo, December 23, 2007. Sri Lankan troops killed 41 Tamil Tiger fighters in a series of weekend clashes in the island's civil war-ravaged north, while three soldiers were also killed, the military said on Monday. Picture taken December 23. REUTERS/Stringer (SRI LANKA)