30 dead in military, LTTE clash

Sri Lanka's military and Tamil rebels clashed near the border between government and rebel-held areas in the north.

Sri Lanka's military and Tamil rebels clashed near the border between government and rebel-held areas in the north and both sides claimed to have killed several enemy combatants, officials from two sides said on Wednesday.

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Lt Col Upali Rajapakse, a senior officer at the Defence Ministry's information center said the military's mortar and artillery fire killed at least 20 rebels around the Omanthai checkpoint on Tuesday.

"The figure may be more, but this is what we have from our intelligence sources," Rajapakse said.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan denied the military claim, and said that the militants ambushed army soldiers in nearby jungles, killing eight to 10 of them. "We have the bodies," he said of the military fatalities.

There was no independent confirmation of either report.