By Xinhua,
Colombo : The military in Sri Lanka said on Friday that 20 Tamil Tiger rebels and two soldiers were killed when government troops entered the rebels’ stronghold Kilinochchi with several clashes in the north on Thursday.
Officials from the Ministry of Defense said the troops “crossed the district borders between Mannar and Kilinochchi districts at an undisclosed location on the Mannar- Vavuniya combined war front.”
Seven LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) rebels’ bodies were found by troops after they beat off the rebels at Mundampiddion Thursday evening.
Four rebels were killed when troops attacked a group of rebels in the south of Tunukkai town around 5:10 p.m. local time (1140 GMT).
Meanwhile, three rebels and two soldiers were killed in several clashes between the two sides at Navvi area.
In the north of Janakapura area, four rebels were killed in clashes with the troops.
Another two rebels were killed in the area north of Kiriibbanwewa.
Clashes between the troops and the LTTE continued in the north despite the ongoing 15th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit in the capital of the island.
Sri Lanka’s government troops are currently battling the LTTE in the north with the aim of totally crushing the organization.
The LTTE has been fighting against the government since the mid-1980s to establish an independent homeland for the island’s minority Tamils, which led to the death of more than 70,000 people.