5 troops, 19 civilians, killed in east Ukraine

KIEV, Jan 30 (AFP):- Twenty-four people, including 19 civilians, were killed in the past 24 hours in clashes between government forces and pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine, officials said Friday.
Pro-Kiev officials in the separatist region of Donetsk said dozens of people were also wounded in shelling across the industrial province. The Ukrainian military said 23 soldiers were injured in the fighting, which has claimed at least 5,100 lives over the last nine months.
Seven civilians died overnight in rebel-held Donetsk and five more early Friday when a food distribution centre was hit, city hall officials said.
The Ukrainian military said that five soldiers and seven civilians were killed in other areas across the mostly Russian-speaking rustbelt.
Heavy fighting was ongoing around Debaltseve, a key government-held town of 25,000 people that straddles a railroad connecting the two rebel centres of Lugansk and Donetsk. Russian-backed rebels claim to have almost encircled the town.
Meanwhile: Kiev and pro-Kremlin insurgents on Friday discussed arranging new talks after 24 people died in a wave of east Ukrainian violence that forced Europe to extend targeted sanctions against Russia.
The meeting in the Belarussian capital Minsk comes with clashes in a war that has killed 5,100 people peaking after a month-long lull that instilled hopes of peace returning to the lands on European Union's eastern frontier.
Rebel leaders last week pulled out of all peace talks and announced a new offensive that was followed by a rocket assault on the strategic port of Mariupol in which 31 civilians died.