By DPA
Colombo : Sri Lankan troops moved into a rebel-controlled area in the island’s northwest over the weekend as both the military and Tamil rebels claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties.
The military claimed that as many as 33 rebels were killed and 38 were injured in clashes in the Parappakandal area of Mannar, 320 km north of the capital. It said only six soldiers were injured in the fighting.
But the rebels said they killed 20 soldiers and injured 40 others while asserting they lost only three of their cadres.
Troops over the past few weeks have been building up their positions in the Mannar district.
In the same district, a soldier was killed Saturday in a grenade attack of Tamil rebels.
In a separate incident in Jaffna, 390 km north of the capital, three rebels were killed and five soldiers were injured in a confrontation.