Sri Lanka says kills 30 Tigers in battle, 3 commit suicide

COLOMBO, June 9 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's military said today troops killed 30 rebels in a fierce jungle battle in the island's restive east and that three insurgents committed suicide with cyanide capsules to avoid capture.

''We estimate troops killed 30 Tigers, plus three Tigers committed suicide in front of our troops,'' a spokesman for the Media Centre for National Security said, asking not to be named in line with policy. He said troops had overrun four Tiger bases.

He said one soldier had been killed and 17 injured in the battle in an area of eastern jungle called Thoppigala, where the two sides have fought artillery and mortar bomb duels for weeks.

The Tigers said they had no immediate details of any casualties from the latest fighting.

REUTERS ARB BD1352