2 soldiers, 1 rebel killed in east Ukraine fighting

Two Ukrainian soldiers and one pro-Russian rebel have been killed over the past 24 hours in fighting in the country's war-torn east despite a shaky ceasefire, officials said on Friday.

A Ukrainian military spokesman said that two soldiers were killed and two wounded as a result of the fighting in which he accused rebels of using heavy arms prohibited by a February truce agreement.

Rebel authorities said that one fighter was killed and one severely wounded in the clashes.

Fighting between pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian army has killed over 6,100 people in the past year. A wobbly truce has been in place since mid-February, but fighters from both sides have been killed in ongoing clashes in a handful of areas.