Sri Lanka's military killed at least 20 Tamil Tiger rebels in retaliation for mortar attacks in the north of the island, a military spokesman said today, on the eve of traditional New Year festivities.
The Tigers denied any losses in the battle in Vavuniya district yesterday and instead said they had killed 10 government soldiers in a separate clash in the same region.
The clashes extended a rash of near daily fighting between the government and the rebels, who are fighting to establish an independent state in the north and east of the country for ethnic minority Tamils.
"There was mortar fire to the forward defence line in (the north), which killed one soldier and wounded four," Lieutenant Colonel Upali Rajapakse, a spokesman for the media centre for national security.
"We have retaliated and their communications prove at least 20 killed."
Tamil Tiger military spokesman, Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan, denied any casualties and said the Tigers had killed 10 government soldiers who had launched a small attack in the restive Vavuniya district.
"It must be within 10 and I'm not sure, but it's not more than 10," Ilanthiraiyan said, referring to the number of government soldiers' bodies found.
The military and rebel claims could not be independently verified.