Sri Lanka rebels say 11 troops killed
COLOMBO (AFP) — Separatist rebels said they killed 11 government troops and wounded 20 during clashes in northern Sri Lanka on Monday.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they killed the soldiers while beating back the fresh attempt by the army to break through rebel defence lines in Jaffna.
Elsewhere, the Tigers raided a navy post in Mannar district in the north early Monday, killing eight personnel and seizing arms and ammunition, rebel military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said.
The defence ministry said one soldier was wounded and another had gone missing in the attack.
The ministry said its troops had "immediately retaliated in a combined effort and chased off the terrorists."
The pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website first reported on the strikes.
In fighting on Sunday, security forces traded fire with the rebels across the northern regions of Mannar and Weli Oya, leaving four Tigers dead and 28 wounded. The military said one soldier died and six were injured in the clash.
There was no immediate comment from the LTTE, who have been locked in armed combat with government troops since 1972 to carve out a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the majority Sinhalese nation.
Since January, security forces have killed at least 3,380 LTTE cadres, according to the defence ministry, which says 254 of its own soldiers have died during the same period.
Both sides are known to inflate enemy losses and downplay their own casualty figures. Death tolls cannot be independently verified since Colombo prevents media and rights groups from visiting the embattled areas.
Tens of thousands have died in the conflict.
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