Colombo: At least 19 Tamil Tigers and a government soldier were killed Saturday as Sri Lankan troops in the northern Vavuniya and northwestern Mannar defences fought sporadic gun battles with the rebels, the military said Sunday.

"The gun battles occurred in the general areas of Ambadankulam, Puttakamam, Paranthankulam, Palamodai and Navvi killing 15 terrorists and injuring at least 18 Saturday," the military said in a report. At least 40 were injured on both sides, it said.

The military claimed that one bunker of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was completely destroyed and said nine soldiers were wounded during a rebel mortar attack.

Four soldiers sustained injuries due to explosion of an LTTE anti-personnel mine and an improvised explosive device (IED).

Meanwhile, the defence ministry in a separate report said the Sri Lankan Air Force have bombed "a high profile LTTE gathering point in general area Vaddakachchi" located approximately eight km northeast of Iranaimadu Tank in the rebel-held Kilinochchi district Sunday evening.

"The air raid was undertaken based on real time ground information," the report said.

Thousands have been killed in over two decades of fighting between Sri Lankan security forces and the LTTE, who are fighting for a separate Tamil homeland in the country's north.

 

 

Source : IANS