10 rebels killed in northern clashes: SL

Colombo, Oct 29: Sri Lankan troops killed 10 Tamil Tiger rebels and two soldiers were wounded in clashes in the restive north, the military said today.

Troops killed ten rebels in three separate confrontations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north-western district of Mannar and northern Jaffna peninsula yesterday, days after the rebels mounted their biggest-ever suicide operation by land backed by air strikes.

''The ground troops confirmed a confrontation with a group of terrorists in Mannar killed six,'' said a spokesman at the Media centre for National Security.

The military said another confrontation in Mannar killed three rebels while on the restive Jaffna peninsula killed one rebel. Two soldiers were injured by a rebel anti-personnel land mine in the northern district of Vavuniya.

The Tigers were not immediately available for comment on the fighting and there were no independent accounts.

An estimated 5,000 people have been killed since early last year amid near daily land and sea clashes, ambushes and air strikes, taking the death toll since the conflict erupted in 1983 to around 70,000.

REUTERS
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