17 SLA, 5 Tigers killed in Pa'ndivirichchaan - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 14:09 GMT]
A two pronged ground movement by the Sri Lanka Army was thwarted at one front by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam after almost 6-hours heavy fighting in which 17 SLA soldiers and five LTTE fighters were killed, according to LTTE Operations Command in Mannaar, media sources in Ki'linochchi said. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopters landed at least 10 times, transporting wounded soldiers from the SLA defence line.

The SLA operation launched at 2:30 p.m. was thwarted at 8:00 p.m. The fighting continued at another point as casualties mounted at the SLA side, the Tigers said.

Meanwhile, three SLA soldiers were killed in Vi'laathikku'lam fighting Friday when a group of the retreating soldiers ran into a booby trap, according to LTTE's Mannaar operations command. Many soldiers were wounded as an SLA unit had entered the booby trapped area, the Tigers said.

Another clash was reported at Mu'l'likku'lam area when a SLA unit attempted to infiltrate LTTE controlled territory. There were no Tiger casualties at Mu'l'likku'lam fighting, according to the LTTE.