By KUNA,
New Delhi : Sri Lanka Thursday claimed to have thwarted an attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on its armed forces, killing at least 15 cadres while six civilians were gunned down by the rebel outfit in the Jaffna peninsula.
“Rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched a pre-dawn attack on Sri Lakan navy and army troopers at Chiraththivu islet, close to Jaffna town,” Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told news agency Indo Asian News Service. “The Sri Lankan armed forces retaliated and destroyed three LTTE boats, killing at least 15 cadres,” Brig. Nanayakkara said.
“One army trooper and two navy sailors were killed in the operation,” Brig Nanayakkara said.
However, pro-LTTE Tamilnet website quoting LTTE sources claimed that at least 13 Sri Lanka Naval personnel were killed and many sailors injured in the attack. The military spokesman rejected the LTTE claims. In another LTTE attack at least six civilians were killed and 20 injured in coastal towns of Pasaiyoor and Kurunagar in the Jaffna peninsula this morning, the news agency said.