Colombo, May. 13 (PTI): A Buddhist monk was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in eastern Sri Lanka today even as security forces killed five Tamil Tiger rebels elsewhere in the island.

The elderly priest, Sandungamuwe Nandaratana, was killed at his temple in the Morawewa area, 260 kilometres north-east of Colombo, police said.

He was a popular figure in the area and had also accepted a member of the minority Tamil community into the monkhood.

In another incident, troops shot dead four members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north-western district of Mannar last night, the military said in a statement.

It said another Tiger rebel was shot dead yesterday along the Muhamalai defence line in the Jaffna peninsula.