By IANS,
Colombo : At least 15 Tamil Tiger guerrillas and two soldiers were killed and over 20 wounded as troops fought the rebels in Sri Lanka’s northeast, the military here said Monday.
The Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said that seven cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in Vavuniya while another eight were killed in north-western Mannar and north-eastern Weli-Oya regions Sunday.
It said one government soldier was killed in LTTE sniper attack at Muhamalai in Jaffna peninsula and another soldier was killed at Puthukamam in Mannar Sunday.
The MCNS, which is attached to the defence ministry, also said that troops operating ahead of their forward defences had recovered over 50 anti-personnel mines left behind by the guerrillas.
There was no immediate reaction from the LTTE on the military claims.
According to official claims, not less than 9,000 LTTE cadres and 1,700 soldiers have been killed since August 2006 in hostilities between the two sides.