Sri Lanka: Fierce battle in Vavuniya, 10 killed

Colombo, June 4: At least 10 Sri Lankan soldiers and 52 Tamil Tigers were killed in fierce fighting in Sri Lanka's northern Vavuniya district, the military said today, a claim denied by the LTTE.

The Defence Ministry in a report said the LTTE cadres launched ''artillery and mortar fire at troops engaged in operation ahead of the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) of Vavuniya'', the northern border of the government-held territory.

''The troops successfully repulsed and counter attacked, inflicting heavy damages on the Tigers. In gunfight, 52 Tamil Tigers were killed and large numbers wounded,'' the Ministry said in a report.

It said the troops were now consolidating their FDLs and had recovered 'a haul of arms and ammunition' left behind by the rebels.

''Ten soldiers have made the supreme sacrifice and 20 are injured,'' the report said, adding that the wounded soldiers have been rushed to the Anuradhapura hospital.

However, the rebels claimed that they ''launched a commando raid last night into Vavuniya Mannar border villages where the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) had recently advanced its Forward Defence Line (FDL).'' ''Thirty SLA soldiers were killed and 15 dead bodies were recovered by the Tigers,'' a pro-LTTE website, Tamilnet has quoted LTTE's military spokesperson Irasiah Ilanthirayan as saying.
He has also claimed that they have ''destroyed a SLA artillery launch-pad and seized military hardware including a Buffel Armoured Personnel Carrier'' during a day-long fighting.

The military has rejected this claim.

UNI