By Xinhua
Colombo : At least 17 Tamil tiger rebels were killed and over 18 injured in the latest pre-emptive strikes launched by the Sri Lankan army in northern Mannar district, the army said Saturday.
In a statement released by the Media Center for National Security said: “The confrontation between the troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) erupted around 0620 GMT Friday morning in Narrikkulam area.”
During the confrontation, troops destroyed five bunkers of the LTTE and six LTTE female cadres were among those killed. The army suffered no casualties.
Clashes between the military and rebels have been occurring frequently in the northern regions after the military in July had claimed that the rebels had been totally eliminated from the eastern province.
Claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinhala majority, the LTTE has been fighting the government since mid-1980s to establish a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in the new wave of violence since the end of 2005, making the Norwegian brokered ceasefire agreement exist only on paper.