Colombo: Eight bodies of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres were found by Sri Lankan troops in the Vavuniya region, even as 20 militants were killed in the embattled northern Sri Lanka, Army said here today.

"Dead bodies of eight militants were recovered by Army troops who conducted a search operation in Periyathampane today. Six bodies were handed over to the Vavuniya hospital but the other two were decomposed," the Defence ministry said in a statement. The army this morning also recovered a box of explosives suspected to belong to LTTE in the general beach area of Vakare in Eastern Batticaloa, it said.

Elsewhere, in a confrontation in the Kallikulam area of North-western Mannar four militants were killed while many severely injured yesterday, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said quoting ground troops. At Vavuniya-Mannar border, a soldier was injured last morning due to the explosion of an anti-personnel mine during a search operation conducted in the Kurisuddikulam area.

In another incident yesterday, troops confirmed that 10 LTTE cadres were killed when the security forces retaliated to LTTE mortar fire during a confrontation in Periyathampane in Vavuniya, the MCNS said.

Source : PTI