A handout photo released by Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence shows a soldier standing guard in the backdrop of the Thoppigala jungle area, 13 July 2006. Government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels were locked in combat in northwest Sri Lanka with both sides claiming they had inflicted heavy casualties on the other.
Government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels were locked in combat in northwest Sri Lanka on Friday with both sides claiming they had inflicted heavy casualties on the other.
The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched the pre-dawn attack on army defences in Mannar district, the defence ministry said in a statement.
Three government soldiers were killed and another four were wounded, the ministry said. It placed rebel losses at nine killed and 20 wounded.
The Tigers said they mounted the attack against a military base which had been shelling nearby villagers, and claimed they had killed at least ten soldiers.
"The mini-camp (of the military) had been harassing the civilians by shelling nearby villages," the LTTE said in a statement.
"The Sri Lanka armed forces personnel manning the mini-camp fled the scene, leaving behind 10 dead bodies, weapons, military equipment and ammunition."
The latest attack came a day after the government celebrated the capture of the final bastion of the LTTE in the east of the island with a victory parade.
The Tigers have been fighting for a separate state for minority Tamils for 35 years, a conflict that has claimed over 60,000 lives.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070720/wl_afp/srilankaunrestattack_070720093008;
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