COLOMBO (AFP) - Some 38 guerrillas and four soldiers died in fierce fighting as Sri Lankan troops beat back a major Tamil rebel attack in the island's north, the defence ministry said Wednesday.
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The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) mounted the counter-offensive in the district of Vavuniya late on Tuesday, the ministry said, adding troops returned fire with artillery and multi-barrel rockets.
Some 38 rebels were killed and another 94 wounded in the clashes in the northern region while four soldiers were killed and 13 wounded.
There was no immediate word from the Tigers about the latest fighting.
The new fighting raised the number of rebels who have died in combat since January to 5,595, while 510 soldiers have been killed in the same period, |