ICRC to help transfer soldiers' bodies in Lanka

Colombo, July 14 (UNI) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today said it had been approached by both the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tiger rebels to transfer the bodies of 12 soldiers killed in the fresh fighting in the eastern Batticaloa district.

''We have been approached by both the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to transfer 12 bodies of the soldiers killed in the gun-battle in the Batticaloa district. The process of transferring these bodies from the LTTE to the government would take place tomorrow,'' ICRC spokesman W Sukumar Rockwood told UNI over the phone, adding that the four LTTE cadres have also been killed in the confrontation.

Military spokesman, Brig Prasad Samarasinghe said the fresh clash had erupted when the army troops on a clearing patrol at Vakaneri in the restive Batticaloa district came under the attack by a group of LTTE cadres with small arms and mortars.

''Some soldiers were missing after the clash. The search operation is currently underway,'' Brig Samarasinghe said.