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COLOMBO: Sri Lankan troops have killed another 19 Tamil Tiger rebels and lost two of their own soldiers in fresh fighting in the island's north, the defence ministry said on Sunday.
Troops killed the 19 members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and wounded 27 others in the districts of Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Jaffna on Saturday, the ministry said.
A total of 13 government soldiers were also wounded in Saturday's clashes.
There was no immediate word from the LTTE on the latest violence.
However, the Tigers released pictures of their elusive leader Velupillai Prabhakaran commemorating his suicide bombers on the 21st anniversary of the first suicide attack by his guerrillas.
The Tigers have deployed over 250 suicide bombers, known as Black Tigers, to carry out devastating attacks since July 1987.
The defence ministry's latest claims of casualties takes the number of rebels reportedly killed by government troops since the beginning of the year to 4,755 against the loss of 427 soldiers.
Government figures cannot be independently verified as journalists are barred from visiting frontline areas.
Sri Lanka has been wracked by civil war for more than three decades. The rebels are fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils on the Sinhalese-majority island.
- AFP/so
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